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THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 




ZEUS OF OTRICOLI. 

(VATICAN, ROME.) 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



flD\>tbolo<3\) of the (Breefes ant) IRomans 



TRANSLATED AND EDITED FROM 
THE TWENTIETH EDITION OF a1 HrpETlSCUS 



KATHERINE A. RALEIGH 



WITH A PKEFACE BY 

JANE E. HARRISON 



ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK 3L/6^X 

CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY 



104 & 106 FOURTH AVENUE 

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Copyright, 1892, by 
CASSELL PUBLISHING- COMPANY. 



All rights reserved. 



THE MERSnON COMPAKTY 
RAHWAY, No J. 



PREFACE. 



I have been asked to write a few words by way of intro- 
duction to " The Gods of Olympos," and I do so with the 
more pleasure as I believe that the book — spite of the many 
mythological manuals that have appeared — supplies a very 
definite want. 

The " Olympos " of Dr. Petiscus — on which, with large 
alterations and additions, the present book is based — has 
gone through twenty editions. This alone proves it to 
have been pleasantly and readably written, and to have 
been well adapted to the elementary students for whom it 
was intended. Even in its twentieth edition, however, the 
"Olympos " is — I say it advisedly — an old-fashioned book ; 
and this, at the risk of seeming paradoxical, I assert to be 
for our particular purpose its peculiar merit, as I will pro- 
ceed to explain. 

The whole method of mythological study is at present in 
flux. The bright hopes raised in the early part of the 
present century by what maybe called the "Indo-Euro- 
pean " theory have now for the most part faded ; we know 
now that in the nomen (name) is not to be sought the origin 
of the numen (god). We know, also, that what may be 



PREFACE. 



called the cosmical method will not do ; that we cannot 
reduce a god to the expression of one simple natural pheno- 
menon ; that Hermes is more than the wind, and Athene's 
continent is beyond the clear blue sky. 

A method which had at least simplicity to commend it 
died hard, but it is dead, and a new theory lives in its place, 
a new master, with tyrannies of its own — the Folk-lore 
Method, of which Mr. Andrew Lang and Mr. J. G. Frazer 
are, in England, the best-known exponents. Nowadays we 
are taught to study the origines of Greek gods, not in the 
Hymns of the Rig Veda, which is a relief, as so few of us 
can read them, but by the light of analogy in the Custom 
and Myth of the contemporary Savage. The shock was 
severe at first, but we are settling down, and most of us now 
recognize the substantial soundness of the position. No less 
do we, and probably its original supporters, see clearly its 
inadequacy as applied to Greek mythology. It leaves us 
with the beginning of things, with certain primitive ele- 
mentary conceptions, and takes no heed of the complex 
structure reared on the simple basis. The seductive sim- 
plicity of the "Corn-mother " and the " Tree-spirit," and, 
worst of all, the ever-impending " Totem," is almost as 
perilous as the old Sun and Moon snare. 

What really lies before the Greek mythologist of the 
present and future, is a task so complex, so difficult, that he 
may well shrink. Gleaning all he can from the Folk-lore 
Methodist, admitting that the primitive fancy takes at all 
times analogous forms, acknowledging that the stately ritual 



PREFACE. 



of the Greek temple was based on the sympathetic magic of 
the savage, he is yet at the beginning of his task. He has 
the demons and spirits of primitive man at one pole, and the 
" gods of Olympos " at the other; while a link in this chain 
is wanting he knows no rest. It is not enough for him to 
hint airily that Dionysos may have been a bull or a tree, 
that Apollo may take his choice between a dog, a wolf, and 
a mouse — this is as little satisfactory as to offer Hermes the 
old alternative of resolving himself into the rain or the wind 
— what he must do, or fail, is to trace each Saga to its local 
home, to carry out the work that the great H. D. Miiller 
began before his time, to disentangle the " confederacy of 
local cults" from which the ultimate Olympian assembly 
was evolved. 

But in the preface to an elementary book on mythology 
why touch on questions so abstruse ? Simply because they 
affect the method of elementary teaching, and hence mould 
my conception of what an elementary handbook should be. 
To my mind, it should not deal with matter at present con- 
troversial. 

The necessity of, what I may call for shortness* sake, 
the " tribal " method is dawning on the writers of hand- 
books ; hints are scattered here and there through ele- 
mentary books that the gods as they appeared in Homer are 
not the primary imaginations of the gifted Greek, have not 
sprung, like Athene, full armed from the creative brain, but 
are the late and literary stage of a long evolution. Posei- 
don, it is whispered, was not originally the god of the sea ; 



PREFACE. 



Artemis and Apollo had originally nothing to do with each 
other ; the marriage of Zeus and Hera was a latter-day 
thing. As in this matter the present writer has been first 
and worst offender, she may be allowed to record her con- 
viction, based on many years of mythological teaching — 
that such scattered suggestions are in the elementary hand- 
book premature, and to the student merely confusing. It 
may be possible ten years hence to write a manual on the 
historico-tribal method, but the time is not yet. For the 
present we must, for the student, set forth the " Gods of 
Olympos " as ultimate facts, with which he is bound to 
become intimately acquainted before he sets foot in the 
tempting field of unproved hypothesis. Therefore, to return" 
to my point, the method of Dr. Petiscus, though old-fash- 
ioned, is best ; he is safe ; he knows nothing of the new 
lights, therefore he cannot prematurely reflect them. 

In the English edition his book has been freely dealt 
with, his occasional lapses into mere hypothesis have been 
ruthlessly excised, his somewhat lengthy, and often senti- 
mental, excursions condensed, for quotations from German 
poets, passages from English writers have been here and 
there substituted as more suggestive to the English student. 
Additions have been made with a liberal hand. Eight new 
illustrations have been added, 1 mostly from vase-paintings, 
a branch of Greek art wholly ignored even in the twentieth 

' For permission to reproduce these engravings the thanks of publisher 
and editor are due to Messrs. Macmillan. 



PREFACE. 



edition of the German book. The most important addition 
is, however, that of the abundant references added by the 
translator. A German popular book has usually no refer- 
ences at all. It bears the superscription, writ large, " Thus 
far shalt thou go and no farther." In England, for intel- 
lectual as for social matters, we draw between the specialist 
and the public no hard and fast lines of class distinction. 
It is for the student himself to decide if he will enter, the 
door is at least wide open. 

The manual, then, in its English form is addressed to 
three possible classes of readers, and should be used as fol- 
lows : The text of the book should be read right through 
as it stands, ignoring all references. The student will then 
have gained such a knowledge of mythology as is necessary 
for a general education, and for the rough understanding of 
classical allusions in modern literature; he will, through 
the illustrations, be acquainted with some of the best-known 
instances of Greek mythology as expressed in Greek art. 
Here the student of the first sort will lay the book aside. 
If, however, he have been attracted by that inherent beauty 
in Greek imagery which the medium of no manual can 
wholly obscure, he will go a step further, he will wish to 
study the actual form, literary and artistic, that these myths 
took in classical days. He must then take the book in hand 
a second time, and, looking up all the references to classical 
poets, read the passages carefully, either in the original or in 
the best available translations. Side by side with this he 
must study the statues, vases, etc., of the illustrations, when 



PREFACE. 



possible, in the originals, where that is impracticable, in 
photographs or the best reproductions. The illustrations 
of a handbook are necessarily little more than guide-posts. 
He now knows the art-form of the Greek myth, and here, 
if his impulse be merely artistic and contemplative, he may 
well end his studies. But it may be that his impulse is also 
or exclusively scientific — that he desires to know the origines 
of things mythological. To him at this third stage the 
references to modern scientific writers are addressed. They 
are not meant to be exhaustive. They include only what 
is best and most reliable, most in touch with modern method, 
or again such writings as from the point of view of accumu- 
lation of material are indispensable ; occasionally where 
nothing is first-rate the best available is given. 

The book, then, while it is specially intended for the 
elementary learner, the school-boy and school-girl, offers 
itself also to the more advanced student of classical art and 
literature, and humbly as a guide-post to the intending 
specialist. 

Jane E. Harrison. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

INTRODUCTION. 
The Character and Meaning of the Gods of 
Classic Antiquity i 

chapter i. 
The Origin of the Gods 12 

chapter 11. 
The Gods of Olympos 19 

chapter hi. 
Sea and River Gods 119 

CHAPTER IV. 

Earth-gods 133 

CHAPTER V. 
Divinities of the Underworld .. . . .161 

CHAPTER VI. 
Myths of Heroes 174 



GENERAL BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 
For Mythology (Greek). 



Elementary 



More 
advanced 



Collignon, Maxime 

Ely, Talfourd 
Langl, Josef ... 

Roscher, W. H. 



Baumeister, August 

Preller, L. 

(or) 
Preller, L. ... 



Manual of Mythology, translated 

by Jane E. Harrison. 
Olympos. 
Griechische Gotter-und Helden- 

gestalten. 
Ausfuhrliches Lexikon der grie- 

chischen und romischen My- 

thologie, complete to las. 
Denkmaler des klassischen Alter- 

thums. 
Griechische Mythologie, 3 te Auf- 

lage, v. E. Plew. 

Griechische Mythologie, 4 te Auf- 
lage, v. C. Robert. 



Frazer, J. G. ... 
Lang, Andrew ... 

Mannhardt, Wilhelm 



Murray, A. S. ... 
Milliet, F. 

Gerhard, E. 

Rayet and Collignon 



For Comparative 

... The Golden Bough. 
... Custom and Myth. 
... Myth, Ritual, and Religion. 
... Mythologische Forschungen, herausgegeben von 
Hermann Patzig. 

For Vase Paintings. 

... Handbook of Greek Archaeology. 

... Etude sur les premieres periodes de la Ceramique 

Grecque. 
... Auserlesene Vasenbilder. 
... Histoire de la Ceramique Grecque. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FULL-PAGE PLATES. 

PLATE 

I. Zeus of Otricoli (Vatican, Rome) . Frontispiece 

OTPOSITE PAGE 

II. Hera (Villa Ludovisi, Rome) , . . .28 

III. Hermes of Praxiteles {Found at Olympia, 1877 

Restored by Schaper) . . • . 

IV. Pallas-Athene {After Pheidas. Found at 

Athens, 1880) 

V. Apollo Belvedere {Rome) 
VI. Apollo Musagetes {Vatican, Rome) . 
VII. A Sea-God {Vatican, Rome) 
VIII. Laokoon-Group {Vatican, Rome) 



120 

250 



ENGRA VLNGS. 

FIG. PAGE 

i . Zeus-group from the Altar-frieze of Pergamon i 5 

2. Jupiter Verospi {Vatican, Rome) . . . .20 

3. Hera {Vatican, Rome) . . . . . .29 

4. Nike of Samothrake {restored by Zumbuscli) . 30 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



l-'IG. . PAGB 

5. Ganymedes, after Leochares {Vatican, Rome) . 33 

6. ElRENE WITH THE YOUNG PlUTOS, AFTER KEPHISO- 

dotos {Munich) 36 

7. Fortuna [Vatican, Rome) 38 

8. Black-figured Vase : Birth of Athene {British 

Museum) ........ 46 

9. Athene-group from the Altar-frieze of Per- 

GAMON {restored by Tondcur) . . . -47 

10. Pallas- Athene {Capitol, Rome) . . . -49 

11. Apollo {Vatican, Rome) .60 

12. Artemis {Vatican, Rome) 64 

13. Helios-relief {from Troy) 68 

14. Blacas-krater : Eos Pursues Kephalos at Sun- 

rise {British Museum) 70 

15. Hekate {Capitol, Rome) 74 

16. Mithras {Vatican, Rome) 75 

17. Asklepios {Vatican, Rome) 79 

18. Bas-relief from Epidauros : Asklepios {Central 

Museum, Athens) 80 

19. Melpomene {Vatican, Rome) 84 

20. Thalia {Vatican, Rome) , 85 

21. Ares {Villa Ludovisi, Rome) 90 

22. Venus {Capitol, Rome) 97 

23. Eros {Capitol, Rome) ....... 100 

24. Eros and Psyche {Capitol, Rome) . . . 102 



25. Cylix : Birth of Erichthonios {Berlin Museum) no 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv 

FIG. TAGIL 

26. Hestia {Rome) 112 

27. Poseidon and Amphitrite {Munich) . . .122 

28. Nereid (Naples) 127 

29. The Nile (Vatican, Rome) 131 

30. Demeter (Vatican, Rome) L34 

31. Heiron Vase : Starting of Triptolemos (British 

Museum) 137 

32. Demeter, Persephone and a Youth (Athens) . 140 

33. Dionysos on the Monument of Lysikrates 

(Athens) 141 

34. Ariadne (Vatican, Rome) 144 

35. Cylix by Hieron : Dance of Monads (Berlin 

Museum) . . . . . . . .147 

36. Indian Bacchos (Vaticaji, Rome) .... 149 

37. Silenus and Bacchus (Vatican, Rome) . . .151 

38. Flora (Naples) 159 

39. Medusa {Villa Ludovisi, Rome) . . . .169 

40. Genius of Death 171 

41. Amphora " Underworld " (Munich) . . .172 

42. Head of Aphrodite from Melos (Louvre, Paris) 173 

43. Centaur (Capitol, Rome) 193 

44. Young Centaur (Capitol, Rome) . . . .194 

45. Cylix: Exploits of Theseus (British Museum) .217 

46. Meleagros {Vatican, Rome) 222 



INTRODUCTION. 

THE CHARACTER AND MEANING OF THE GODS 
OF CLASSIC ANTIQUITY. 

BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 

Petersen, Chr Das Zwolfgottersystem der Griechen und Romer. 

Preller- Robert Romische Mythologie (Einleitung). 

Mueller, Iwan ... ... Handbuchder klassischen Alterthumswissenschaft. 

Section on " Die griechischen Alterthumer," 

by Paul Stengel. 

Toepffer, J Attische Genealogie. 

Immerwahr, My then und Kulte Arkadiens. 

Mueller, H. D ... Mythologie der griechischen Stamme. 

Any study, however elementary, of Greek and Roman 
legends carries us at once into a new world, which, both 
in popular belief and poetic fancy, was peopled by gods, 
goddesses and heroes. These divine beings ruled over the 
earth, the sea and the underworld ; they presided over 
every aspect, not only of human life, but of all external 
nature. Hence not only were the dwellings of men under 
their protection, but mountains, valleys, meadows, groves 
and springs were animated by their presence, and thus 
became to primitive man in a sense sacred. 

Since man conceived of everything, external nature and 
his own alike, as the work of divinities, whose keen sight 
2 



— ^ 



i THE GODS OF CLASSIC ANTIQUITY 

nothing could escape, a feeling of sacred awe kept him back 
from any action which could cause them injury or offence. 
He believed, too, that all events happening around or in 
him had their origin in some divine impulse. The conception 
of Fate, as the order of the Universe, unalterable even by 
the gods themselves, is not a part of primitive belief. 

This belief in the gods was connected with every action 
of human life. The warrior, marching to the field of battle, 
commended himself to the god who would protect his 
own. The husbandman ploughed his field trusting that 
the goddess who had taught men how to plough and sow 
would grant a plenteous harvest. Without the blessing of 
the gods no seaman could hope for a lucky voyage, the 
poet's inspiration to song and solemn ode was a divine gift, 
and so was the skill of the plastic artist. Apart from the 
favour of the Immortals the pleasures of social feast and 
sport could not exist, therefore a prayer and a libation of 
wine always began the banquet. This piety of the ancient 
world, beginning with a vague belief in spirits and demons, 
developed later into a complex Polytheism. The study of 
mythology, then, brings us into intimate contact with one, 
and that the most sacred aspect of national life, and a careful 
consideration of the religious beliefs of the Greeks and 
Romans will give us some insight, otherwise unattainable, 
into their national characteristics. 

The Greeks and Romans are no more, and their religion 
has perished. What we know of it is not from ear- or eye- 
witness, but from the literature of the time and from the 
monuments of art which survived the fall of the ancient 
nations. The temples of the gods fell into decay, but their 
ruins are enough to give us some idea of their former 
magnificence. 

The men who built these temples are still our models 



CULTURE AND RELIGION 



in art, literature and state-craft, and in many ways un- 
surpassed. We all know, at least by name, the poems of 
Homer, Pindar, Anakreon, Theokritos, and the plays of 
^Eeschylus, Sophokles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. We 
have heard of the orators Demosthenes and ^Eschines, and 
of the first historians, Herodotos, Thukydides, and Xenophon. 
The great philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, and the famous 
Romans, Cicero, Horace, Livy, Ovid, Tacitus and Juvenal, 
are all well known ; and of the countless number of Greek 
sculptors and painters, we are familiar at least with the 
names of Pheidias, Praxiteles, Apelles and Zeuxis. 

The culture represented by these great names was largely 
based on religious belief, and it is this religious belief we 
must now study in poetry, art and ritual. 

There is much that is noble and beautiful in Greek and 
Roman legendary faith, but it is characterized largely by a 
tendency to look without rather than within. It was not 
until the latest phases of ancient civilization that the spiritual 
conception was formed of one sole Supreme Being, the ruler 
of human destiny. We must therefore constantly remember 
that modern and Christian notions are foreign to classical 
thought. 

By Mythology we understand the whole body of legends 
describing the origin and action of the gods, and attempting 
to account for the beginnings of the visible world. 

There never was a nation which from its very beginning 
stood at a high level of mental culture. An individual 
human being is not born educated and experienced. The 
latent powers of his mind must be gradually developed 
during his childhood and youth ; {he growth of his percep- 
tive power and the ordering of his ideas must bring him to 
a knowledge of the things around him and lay a foundation 
for the understanding of serious truth. Only gradually can 



4 THE GODS OF CLASSIC ANTIQUITY 

he be freed from the misleading fancies of youth, and learn 
to apply his faculties to good and worthy ends. Just so 
it is with nations ; we can distinguish in them, as in men, 
different stages of mental and emotional culture. 

Even rude primitive man feels that he is surrounded by 
forces which are mightier than he, and exercise an influence 
upon him. He sees around him things which he did not 
make, which he cannot understand and over which he has 
no control, and it is naturally not long before the question 
occurs to him, "Whence comes all that I see around me, 
and who brought it into being ? " He dimly feels that there 
must be creative powers, the sources of existence, but his 
powers of thought are too unpractised to examine facts and 
draw logical inferences. He simply allows his fancy free 
play, and invents for himself a superior being from his own 
human standpoint. As he knows nothing higher than man, 
he thinks of his god as a man, more perfect and powerful 
than himself. 

But the forces by which man sees himself surrounded are 
apparently independent of each other and of any supreme 
controlling power. Sometimes they even seem to oppose 
and counteract each other. Thus primitive man conceives 
of as many gods as there are forces conditioning his exis- 
tence, varying among themselves in beauty, dignity and 
power. Even in destructive and harmful agencies man sees 
something divine, which he had better try to appease. Thus 
the Greeks peopled nature with self-created beings, each 
claiming his proper tribute of worship, love or fear. Air, 
water, earth, wood, corn-fields and the homes of men were 
full of divine life. All natural occurrences were ascribed to 
one or other of these mighty mysterious existences, and with 
a thrill of veneration men strove to win their kindly favour 
by services and gifts such as they would approve. In order 



THE COMPLEX NATURE OF MYTHOLOGY 5 

to ensure the actual presence of the gods in special holy 
places temples and altars were erected. 

With these sacred places were connected sacrifices, expia- 
tory offerings, votive gifts, festal processions, great popular 
festivals, such as the Olympian, Nemean, Pythian and 
Isthmian Games, and secret rites or mysteries, such as those 
of Demeter at Eleusis. The Greeks, simple and direct as 
they were, had no doubt of the actual presence of the gods 
in these places consecrated to them. This belief descended 
from father to son, and was elaborated by the development 
and beautifying of outward ritual, and by the assimilation 
of many foreign customs. 

Thus arose the complex fabric of Mythology, as we find 
it in the literature of the best periods of Greece and Rome, 
that mass of legendary lore which teaches us what the 
ancients thought about the creation of the universe, the 
phenomena of nature, the gods and the heroes. These ideas 
took different forms according to the condition and stage 
of culture of the ancient peoples among whom they were 
current. No wonder that in a theology put together from 
so many legends, belonging to such various peoples and 
times, there should be much that is apparently contradic- 
tory, extraordinary, absurd and impossible. These stories, 
like the nations to which they belonged, underwent a long 
process of change. They represent the early rude stage of 
human life, as well as the flower of later culture in the 
times when poets and philosophers made it their aim to 
glorify the gods. 

At a time when most of these legends were centuries old, 
they were misunderstood by the ancients themselves, and 
attempts were made to invent new meanings, corresponding 
more nearly to the stage of contemporary culture. The 
further Greek mythology advanced on this path, the more 



6 THE GODS OF CLASSIC ANTIQUITY 

was the real origin of the gods forgotten, and the more 
spiritual did their conception of them become. More and 
more of the old stories and beliefs had to be given up, but 
re-appeared from time to time and mingled with newer 
legends. From this arose contradictory versions, confused 
and whimsical interpretations, which could not fail to result 
in the break-up and downfall of paganism. 

Now-a-days, although we do not accept as fact the myths 
of the Greeks and Romans, yet, since they form part of the 
history of humanity, we cannot afford to remain strangers 
to the religious beliefs of those on whose culture in many 
of its essential features our own is founded. 

In order that we may better understand national belief as 
an inseparable part of national life we must consider Cziltus, 
or religious ritual, z'.e., the manner in which the gods 
were adored. In antiquity the most important part of 
worship was the Sacrifice which was offered to the god on 
the altar by the priest. In ancient times, incredible as it 
may seem to us, not only animals and fruits, but human 
beings were sacrificed, just as they are now among savage 
tribes. Abraham was prepared to offer up his son Isaac in 
obedience to the Divine command, and Greek legends 
from various places, of which the well-known story of Iphi- 
genia is one, make it quite certain that the cruel custom of 
human sacrifice existed, although it fell into disuse as the 
Greeks progressed in morality and refinement. 

Sacrifices were the share which man paid to the gods of 
those gifts first received from them. 1 They were therefore 
inseparable from primitive worship, which was founded on 
the supposition that the gods are beings like to men, 
and demand their due part of all natural produce. The 

1 For a later theory of Sacrifice see W. Robertson Smith, "The 
Religion of the Semites." 



SACRIFICE 7 

husbandman would offer harvested corn, the herdsman first- 
lings of the flock, the merchant treasures from abroad and 
the warrior spoils won in the field. The poet, the artist 
and the athlete would dedicate their prizes in the temples 
and shrines of those gods to whom they owed success. 

The usual places of worship were sacred precincts, enclos- 
ing temples, altars or statues of the gods. Here the 
worshippers assembled, and by means of the priests pre- 
sented their offerings and prayers. In these sanctuaries the 
gods were specially present, therefore the worshippers were 
enjoined to shun all evil or defiling actions and to purify 
themselves by expiatory sacrifice before taking part in the 
sacred rites of worship. 

There were appropriate and special gifts to each god, con- 
nected with his character or the domain of his activity. 
Victims for sacrifice must be without blemish. They were 
brought to the altar decked with sacred fillets and garlands. 
■ Such sacrificial scenes are frequently represented in sculpture 
and on vase paintings. 

The sacrifice itself, being a holy rite, was performed 
according to venerable and unalterable custom, but not 
necessarily by a priest or priestess. There were, however, 
priesthoods, some of which were hereditary, and remained 
in one family for many generations. Such was the priest- 
hood of the Eleusinian Demeter, in the family of the 
Eumolpidai* 

The customary ritual of sacrifice was the following : — First 
a few hairs were cut from the forehead of the victim and 
thrown on the fire as an initiatory offering ; then sacrificial 
meal mixed with salt was strewn between the beast's horns, 
and he was slain, amid the prayers and cries of the wor- 
shippers. The blood was poured around the altar, and 

1 J. Toepffer, " Attische Genealogie." 



8 THE GODS OF CLASSIC ANTIQUITY 

the choicer parts of the entrails, sprinkled with meal, wine 
and incense, were burned upon it. All the flesh that 
remained was consumed al a solemn feast. A sacrifice 
offered to a river- or sea-god was plunged into the water. 
Victims offered to the underworld gods were black in colour, 
and the sacrifice was performed in a pit dug in the ground. 

The Romans when they prayed turned their faces to the 
north, or, if they were in a temple, to the image and altar of 
the deity, raising their hands in prayer to the heavenly 
gods, and turning them down in addressing the underworld 
divinities. Sometimes they would kiss the mouth, hands or 
knees of the statues of the gods. 

As great religious festivals we may mention the Olympian, 
Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian Games, in the celebration of 
which all Greeks had a share. While the more important 
festivals went on dissension ceased, and there was peace all 
over Greek soil. 

At the outset of our study we are met by the question : 
" What did the ancients think about the origin of the Earth 
and the Universe ? " 

We conceive of the Universe as an immense whole, whose 
limits we do not know, containing within itself all created 
things, and of our Earth as a mere speck in space, one of 
the most insignificant of the heavenly bodies. The ancients 
thought that the Earth was. the centre of the Universe, and 
the first created thing. The Earth, however, was not made out 
of nothing ; from all time Chaos existed, a confused, formless 
mass of primitive matter shrouded in cloud and darkness, 
and containing the germs of all things that were to come 
into being. To separate this homogeneous mass and produce 
things of various kinds, a force arose called by philosophers 
Eros — Love. By his influence kindred substances were united 



ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE 



and substances of opposite nature were separated. Thus all 
things were ordered and proportioned, and the Earth came 
into being. 

" It was Chaos and Night at the first and the blackness of darkness and 

Hell's broad border, 
Earth was not, nor air, neither heaven ; when in depths of the womb of 

the dark without order 
First thing first born of the black-plumed Night was a wind-egg hatched 

in her bosom, 
Whence timely with seasons revolving again sweet Love burst out as a 

blossom, 
Gold wings gleaming forth of his back, like whirlwinds gustily turning. 
He, after his wedlock with Chaos, whose wings are of darkness, in Hell 

broad-burning, 
For his nestlings begat him the race of us first, and upraised us to light 

new-lighted, 
And before this was not the race of the gods, until all things by Love 

were united. " * 

The ancients did not know that the Earth was shaped like 
a bail. They thought of it as a flat disc or shield, firmly 
fixed, and surrounded by the stream of Ocean, a river of 
unlimited breadth, into which flowed all the waters of the 
Earth. The sky was a solid vault stretched above the disc 
like a pitched tent, and resting on the mountains at its edge. 
The space between the Earth and the sky was filled by air, 
clouds and ether, and in this space the Sun, Moon and 
Stars moved. 

The superior gods lived in the airy space between the 
Earth and the sky, and their seats were splendid palaces on 
the mist-shrouded top of Mount Olympos. Hence the twelve 
principal gods are called the Olympians. Their names 
were : Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athene, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, 
Aphrodite, Hephaistos, Hestia, Poseidon and Demeter. 

1 Aristophanes, " Aves," 693. Trans. A. C. Swinburne. 



= 



io THE GODS OF CLASSIC ANTIQUITY 

Primitive belief regarded Mount Olympos as the centre ol 
the Earth's surface, and from its heights, it was supposed, 
the immortals could from time to time descend and mix 
with men ; but a later age removed the dwelling of the gods 
above the sky-vault, and supposed that they viewed the 
Earth and man's doings through an opening near the fortress 
of Zeus. According to this view, the word Olympos is often 
used to mean Heaven, or the dwelling of the gods. The 
counterpart of Olympos was Hades, a broad, vaulted space 
far down under the surface of the Earth, the dwelling of the 
departed. 

The peoples of Greece and Rome, although they belonged 
to the same original stock, existed for centuries as separate 
and independent races, holding little communication with, 
and exercising little influence on each other. In their 
mythology and ritual, therefore, we shall find many differ- 
ences, as well as points of correspondence. 

The early Romans were a people of herdsmen and 
husbandmen, leading quiet, uneventful lives in a country 
comparatively limited in extent. Their ritual was simple, 
and their religious belief uniform. The Greeks, on the 
other hand, were divided into a number of separate tribes, 
and lived in detached communities, carrying on different 
occupations. Hence arose great variety of religious belief 
among them. The gods of the inland mountain region of 
Arkadia, 1 for instance, where the livelihood of the inhabi- 
tants depended on pasture-land, were other than those of the 
coast and islands, where the principal occupations were fish- 
ing, sailing, and trading. 

Many of the Greek legends originally belonged to separate 
tribes, and became common property of the nation by means 

(Immerwahr, " My then und Kulte Arkadiens." 
H. D. Miiller, " Mythologie der griechischen St'amme." 



GREEK AND ROMAN LEGENDS 



of the poets ; others were invented by the poets, and had 
little hold on popular belief, while others, again, sprang from 
the ritual of Oriental peoples and were adopted by the 
Greeks. 

It is commonly and most erroneously supposed that the 
belief of the Greeks was exactly the same as that of the 
Romans. Now the Roman authors and poets who handed 
these legends down to us, wrote at a time when Greek culture 
had become part of Roman life, and from Greek culture 
Greek religion was inseparable. Hence the mythology we 
find in Latin literature is Greek, derived from Greek autho- 
rities and Greek models. The names of the gods and heroes 
are given in Latin form, or myths of Greek gods and heroes 
are ascribed to Latin divinities of similar character. 

Literature gives very little information about ancient 
Roman ritual, but the few notices there are show that it 
remained for the most part uninfluenced by Greek modes of 
worship, and preserved its traditions down to a late period. 

The present work will describe the fabric of mythology as 
it was completed by the poets, and will include many legends 
which found no place in popular belief. 

The ancients conceived of the Universe not as existing in 
its present state from the beginning, but as taking shape 
gradually, after long conflicts between the opposed forces of 
Nature struggling for the mastery. While the order of the 
Universe was being formed, three great dynasties of gods 
occupied in succession the throne of universal power. At 
the head of the first dynasty stood Ouranos, his son Kronos 
followed him as ruler of the second, and to him again suc- 
ceeded, as leader of the youngest and most perfect dynasty, 
his son Zeus. What ideas were current about this succession 
of divine rulers will be the subject of our first chapter. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE GODS. 

( Theogony!) 

BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 

Hesiod, ... ... Theogony. 

Apollodoros, ... ... Bibliotheke. 

Mayer, Maximilian ... Die Giganten und Tilanen in der antiken Sage und 

Kunst. 
Lang, Andrew ... Article, " Mythology " in Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

I. OURANOS. 

Ouranos represents Heaven, or the sky. With him, as the 
Greek poets tell us, began the first race of gods. He was 
married to Gaia, the Earth, his mother, and from this union 
sprang the Titans, Hekatoncheires, and Kyklopes. The 
Titans, called Ouranidai after their father, were six in 
number, Kotos, Kreios, Hyperion, Japetos, Okeanos and 
Kronos. They had six sisters : Theia, Rhea, Mnemosyne, 
Phoibe, Tethys and Themis. These divinities, represented 
in pairs as male and female, are the primitive forces of 
nature, which were at work when the world came into being. 
All these superhuman beings were represented as mon- 
strous giants. Ouranos, who feared to lose his kingdom 
by their violence, thrust them down to Tartaros, and kept 



I.] OURANOS AND KRONOS 13 

them prisoners. His consort Gaia, pitying the hard fate of 
her children, armed Kronos with a reaping-hook, which she 
herself had made, and with this weapon Kronos wounded 
Ouranos and freed the Titans from the underworld. The 
Titans, after the fall of their father, Wedded their sisters and left 
a numerous offspring of gods. The race was further increased 
by the Gigantes x (giants), sometimes represented in art as 
snake-tailed, who sprang from the drops of Ouranos' blood, 
by the Melian Nymphs, i.e., the nymphs of the ash trees from 
which war-lances were made, and by the Erinyes, [Tisiphone, 
Megaira, and Alekto), who exacted a blood penalty for the 
wrong done their father, and pursued criminals with the 
torments of retributive justice. All these are divinities of 
Greece. The Romans believed in similar superhuman bei jgs 71 
namely the Larvae, who would not even let .the dead rest in 
peace if their sins had not been expiated. Such legends 
show how much the ancients feared the righteous wrath of 
the deities of the lower world. 

2. Kronos. 

Kronos? the meaning of whose name is uncertain, was a 
son of Ouranos. He succeeded to his father's throne, and 
married Rhea, his sister, who bore him three daughters, 
Hestia, Demeter and Hera, and three sons, Aides, Poseidon 
and Zeus. Kronos was warned by an oracle that as he had 
dethroned his father, he, too, should be dethroned by his 
sons. He therefore swallowed his five elder children. Then 
Rhea brought forth a sixth child, Zeus,3 the most beautiful 
of all. To secure the safety of the boy, she gave her consort 



1 Hesiod, " Theogonia," 1. 185. 
8 Ibid., 1. 137. 
3 Ibid., 1. 470. 



i 4 THE ORIGIN OF THE GODS [chap. 

a stone, wrapped in swaddling bands like a new-born child, 
and he swallowed it in the belief that he was devouring 
his youngest son. 

When Rhea had thus deceived her husband, she caused 
Zeus, the new-born child, to be taken to the island of Kreta, 
there to be hidden in a grotto of Mount Dikte. The 
beasts of the forest joined the nymphs in tending the young 
god ; bees gathered honey for him ; a strong eagle brought 
him ambrosia, and the goat Amaltheia x fed him with her 
milk. That Kronos might not hear the crying of the child, 
the Kuretes, servants of Rhea, his attendants, danced wildly 
round him and made a ceaseless noise with their swords and 
shields. Such customs were not uncommon in antiquity, and 
were supposed to ward off hurtful influences, the heat of the 
dog-days in summer, for instance, or baneful effects caused by 
eclipses of the moon. In more modern time customs of 
this kind were to be found in Asia Minor, and even at the 
present day bells are rung during a thunder-storm in some 
mountain districts, as the Tyrol. 

When Zeus was grown, he conspired with Rhea, and 
forced his father to restore the children whom he had 
swallowed. With the help of his brothers Zeus then 
hurled Kronos from the throne and took his place. And 
now began the long and violent War of the Gods and 
Titans. 

For the Titans, sons of Ouranos, were not content with the 
change. They revolted against Zeus, and although the new 
ruler had the best of the strife, it was a long time before it 
was over. The legend gives Thessaly as the place where this 
terrible war between Ouranidai and Kronidai was waged. 
On Olympos, the highest mountain of Greece, was the throne 

1 Apollodorus Ath. I. 6. 



WAR OF OURANIDAl AND KRONIDAI 



•5 



of Zeus and his fellows. There dwelt Sfyx, daughter of 
Okeanos, with her strong children, Zelos, Nike, Kratos and 
Bia. She was made a goddess by Zeus as a reward for her 
help, and henceforth the Immortals swore their unalterable 
oath by her. On Mount Othrys, opposite, lived the Titans, 
under the leadership of Japetos. Zeus, being hard pressed, 
loosed the Hekatoncheires and Kyklopes who had been 
chained in the underworld ; they brought with them their 
terrible weapons, lightning, thunder and the destructive 




Fig. i. Zeus-group from the Altar-frieze of Pergamon. 

earthquake, and Zeus succeeded at last, by their aid, in 
mastering the enemy. 1 When Zeus had subdued the Oura- 
nidai, the Hekatoncheires overwhelmed them with huge 
masses of rock, and they have lain ever since far below the 
kingdom of Aides, imprisoned in cold and darkness behind a 
brazen wall, and guarded by Hekate. 

Typhon (or Typhoeus), a frightful monster, offspring of 
Gaia and Tartaros, whose strength was irresistible, and whose 



Homer, Iliad, xiv. 279. 



1 6 THE ORIGIN OF THE GODS [chap. 

breath was like the whirlwind, succumbed to the thunderbolt 
of Zeus, and was sent to eternal exile. (Fig. I.) 

The wars with the giants, and the story of how Herakles 
helped to defend Olympos, were favourite subjects of ancient 
poets and artists, but never became an essential part of Greek 
religion. 

Kronos represents the order of Nature. His children 
represent various natural forces, both formative and de- 
structive. Out of the strife of these powers comes the new 
order of things, whose representative is Zeus. The older and 
physically stronger gods must be displaced by the younger 
and craftier. 

The legend of Zeus' birth and secret tendance was to be 
found in its fullest and most popular form at Kreta (or 
Crete), 1 a centre of ancient civilization, where the worship of 
Kronos, too, was at home. Kronos was worshipped in Crete 
not as the gloomy god who swallowed his own children, but 
as the ripener and accomplisher, the god of harvest, who 
gives prosperity and wealth, happiness and good luck. 
Therefore his festivals, the Kronia, and the corresponding 
Italian Saturnalia became, like our harvest -homes, occasions 
of the most unbridled jollity. 

3. Rhea (Kybele). 
Rhea was wife of Kronos, and mother of Aides, Poseidon, 
Zeus, Hestia, Demeter and Hera. Her worship was con- 
siderably overshadowed by that of the other gods, and in 
very early times the Eastern goddess Kybele shared her 
honours. Deep in the tangle of the ancient forest Rhea sat 
on her throne, surrounded by lions, panthers and other 

1 For recent excavations in the cave of Zeus in Crete see " American 
Journal of Archaeology," vol. iii. p. 174, and vol. ii. p. 4S0; and " Museo 
Italiano di Antichita," 1887-90. 



I.] RHEA-KYBELE 17 

savage beasts. Her followers practised wild enthusiastic 
rites in her honour as mother i of Nature. Her worship 
was specially developed among the Phrygians, an ancient 
and highly-civilized people of Asia Minor ; to them she 
was not merely the mother of the gods, but teacher of 
agriculture and vine-dressing, and founder of the first cities. 
In her last aspect she wears a mural crown with battle- 
ments. 

Countless' legends are connected with the name of Rhea- 
Kybele. As Rhea, she was daughter of Ouranos and Gaia, 
(heaven and earth). As Kybele, she was daughter of a 
Phrygian prince named Mawu, who, being angry because 
no son was born to him, exposed her on the mountains soon 
after her birth. She was suckled by wild beasts, until she 
was found by some herdsmen, who brought her up. Her 
beauty and wisdom won the love of all the people, and when 
she was grown, her father acknowledged her, and took her to 
his home. She was beloved by the youth Attis, and at this 
Maion was so enraged that he had Attis put to death. The 
agony of Kybele bordered on madness ; she sought solitude, 
and passed her days under a pine tree, into which she thought 
her lover had been transformed. While thus separated from 
human kind, she is said to have invented tambourines, cym- 
bals, and lutes of a peculiar kind, and to have made a mad 
and noisy progress through the country, accompanied by the 
Silen Marsyas. She could tame the strongest and most 
savage beast, the lion. The pine tree was specially sacred to 
her, and the violet too, the messenger of spring, sprung from 
the blood of slaughtered Attis. 

In the ritual of her service appear many features specially 

developed in Asia Minor. Wild music, cries of excitement 

and flaming torches, accompanied the priests and their 

inspired followers as they trooped through woods and over 

3 



1 8 THE ORIGIN OF THE GODS [chap. i. 

mountains. These enthusiasts even thought to honour the 
goddess by wounding and mutilating themselves in remem- 
brance of the pain which Rhea suffered, when she saw her 
beloved children devoured by their father, or of Kybele's 
grief at the death of Attis. 1 

The worship of Kybele, which at a later time resolved 
itself almost entirely into that of Dionysos, was most wide- 
spread in Asia Minor. Near Pessinus in Phrygia a cave was 
shown as the most ancient sanctuary of the goddess. 

The Megalesia, a Roman feast in which only women took 
part, was held in her honour. 

1 See Frazer's " Golden Bough." 



CHAPTER TI. 
THE GODS OF OLYMPOS. 

BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 

Hesiod, Works and Days. 

Mannhardt, L. Wilhelm... Mythologische Forschungen, ch. ii. (for Bou- 

phonia). 
Overbeck, Johannes ... Gallerie heroischer Bildwerke der alten Kunst 

and 
Atlas der griechischen Kunstmythologie. 

Mueller, H. D Ueber den Zeus Lykaios. 

Immerwahr, ... ... My then und Knlte Arkadiens. 

i. Zeus (Jupiter). 

Zeus was god of the sky and ruler of all the other gods. His 
numerous names are derived some from the places where 
his cult was localized, and some from different aspects of his 
character. In the Iliad and Odyssey those of the latter kind 
frequently occur ; such are : " Cloud-veiled One," "Cloud- 
compeller," "Thunderer," " Mighty Thunderer," " Supreme 
Lord," " Father of Gods and Men." The name Kronion, or 
Kronides, is given to him as son and successor of Kronos, 
and is a title of great reverence. (Fig. 2.) 

Zeus grew and throve under the care of the nymphs, his 
nurses, and nourished by the milk of the goat Amaltheia, 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



whom he afterwards placed in the constellation of the 




Fig. 2. Jupiter Verospi {Vatican, Rome). 

Waggoner, giving her the name of Capella. He soon 



ii.] THE AGES OF MAN 



showed remarkable powers of wisdom and understanding. 
1 While still a youth he hurled Kronos from his throne, 
conquered the Titans and giants, and thus established his 
power for ever. When he drew lots with his brothers for 
the lordship of the world, there fell to him the rule of 
Heaven, to Poseidon that of the sea and all waters, and to 
Ai'des that of the underworld, while the earth remained 
common property of all three. The supremacy of Zeus was 
acknowledged by the other two in their own domains, for 
the old myths say that Zeus held sway over land, sea, and 
under the earth. Zeus could not change the order of the 
universe, fixed by himself, nor could he control Fate. His 
most important function was to protect and control human 
life and destiny, and to portion out good or evil to man. 
We must now relate what the ancients believed about the 
origin and growth of the human race. 

The Ages of Man. 2 

In the reign of Kronos a race of man existed, the most 
perfect of all. As gold is the noblest metal, the period of 
this race was called the Golden Age. Men enjoyed 
eternal youth, without care or grief ; they were like the 
immortals, and consorted with them on familiar terms. Yet 
they were subject to death, which came to them as a gentle 
sleep. When this race died out, Zeus transformed them into 
beneficent spirits, to protect men in distress and danger, 
bestow riches on the upright, and check the impious in their 
crimes. 

The men of the second, or Silver Age, were much less 
perfect. They were lawless and violent, and would neither 

r yEschylus, " Prometheus Vinctus." 
2 j Hesiod, " Works and Days," no. 
I Erwin Rhode, " Psyche." 



22 THE GODS OF OL YMPOS [chap. 

keep peace among themselves nor worship the gods. There- 
fore they were swept from the face of the earth. After death 
they existed as underworld spirits, but were not immortal, 
and were never translated to the Islands of the Blest. 

The men of the Brazen Age were created by Zeus out of 
the ash tree. They were huge in stature and of tremendous 
strength, and in their unbounded insolence and violence 
they slew each other, until Zeus destroyed them by a flood. 

Deukalion and Pyrrha were the only survivors. They 
took refuge from the waters on the top of Mount Parnassos, 
and at the command of the gods called a new race into being 
by throwing stones behind them. These stones became men, 
and thus Deukalion and Pyrrha were ancestors of the fourth 
race, men of the Iron Age, who still inhabit the earth. No 
longer, as in the Golden Age, carelessly enjoying the rich gifts 
of the gods, nor, like the men of the Silver Age, boasting of 
gigantic strength, the men of to-day with toil and pains 
wring a livelihood from the soil, and are continually op- 
pressed by trouble and care. From the earlier races they 
have received as a heritage only strife and violence. 

According to another legend, Prometheus made the first 
man from a lump of earth and taught them all the arts. 

-The first wife of Zeus was Metis (Prudence), a daughter of 
Okeanos. Fate had prophesied to Zeus that his offspring- 
should be mightier than himself. To prevent this he 
swallowed Metis. Then from his head sprang his daughter, 
Pallas Athene, in full armour. On the Acropolis of Athens 
in one pediment of the Parthenon, the most famous of all 
the temples of Athene, this event was represented in 
sculpture. 1 

The true lawful consort of Zeus was Hera, his sister, the 

1 The less important figures of this pedimental group are now in the 
British Museum. 



THE FUNCTIONS OF ZEUS 



great queen of Heaven. Long did she resist his wooing, but 
at last she yielded, and the nuptials were solemnized. To 
their brilliant wedding feast were invited all the gods of 
Heaven and all the underworld divinities. Hera bore to her 
husband Hebe, Arcs and Hcpliaistos. Zeus did not always 
remain faithful to this marriage with his sister, but formed 
other unions with goddesses and mortal women. Persephone 
was his offspring by Demcter, At olio and Artemis by Lefo, 
the Muses by Mnemosyne, Dionysos by Scmclc, Hermes by 
Main and Herakles by Alkmenc. This faithlessness of 
Zeus, which seems so unworthy of the ruler of the Universe, 
is easily explained by the various legends which arose inde- 
pendently of each other in different countries. In each of 
these legends Zeus had only one wife, and remained faithful to 
her, and it was only after the poets had united the stories, as if 
of equal authority, that the view which is more familiar to 
us arose. 1 

To the Greeks Zeus was the Supreme Being, Father of Gods 
and Men, Ruler and Preserver of the Universe, and Source of 
Wisdom and Justice. Zeus ordered the alternation of day and 
night, and the revolution of the seasons ; he could make the 
winds blow, gather and disperse the clouds, and shower 
fertilizing rain on the young vegetation. He watched over 
the law and order of the state, protected kings in the exercise 
of their authority, and ruled human society, rewarding 
faithfulness, and punishing treachery and cruelty. He was 
" Father of Men and Immortals." The poorest and most 
abandoned might rely on his care, and the homeless beggar 
could claim his powerful protection. 2 He guarded travellers, 
and took special note of the fulfilment of the duties of 
hospitality. 



J. Overbeclc, " Kunstmythol 
Od. vi. 208. 



HIE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 



Two mythological stories will illustrate how Zeus ruled the 
earth : Philemon and Baucis, 1 a humble wedded pair, well 
stricken in years, lived in Phrygia in unbroken harmony 
and in pious worship of the gods. Zeus, who often visited 
the earth disguised in human form, came one day, with 
Hermes as his companion, to the cottage of these poor 
people. Philemon and Baucis welcomed the strangers 
kindly, led them into their cottage, and set food before 
them, the best they could give. Zeus was touched by this 
good-natured hospitality, and the more because the other 
inhabitants of the country were hard-hearted and careless 
of the gods. He resolved to plague these evil men with a 
grievous flood, but to preserve Philemon and Baucis, and 
reward them in a special manner. Therefore, after reveal- 
ing himself to the astonished pair, he commanded a great 
flood to cover the land. Then he transformed the old 
people's cottage, which stood upon a hill, into a magnificent 
temple, established Philemon in it as priest, and Baucis as 
priestess, and promised that when their life was over they 
should die together. When, at last, death came to them, 
Zeus changed them into an oak and a lime, growing close 
together. 

Lykaon, 2 an Arcadian prince, had fifty sons, who had 
brought savage crufelty to such a pass that they slew every 
traveller who fell into their hands. Zeus once visited them 
in disguise, and they attempted to take his life. When he 
told them that he Avas a god they would not believe it, and 
Lykaon, to put him to the proof, secretly slaughtered an 
innocent child, and set the horrid meal before him. Zeus 
at once discovered the crime, and to punish Lykaon and his 
sons for their bloodthirsty cruelty and impiety, he changed 

1 Ovid, " Melam." viii. 621-724. 

2 H. D. Mueller, "Ueber clen Zeus Lykaios." 



OLYMPIAN GAMES 



them into ravening wolves, and burned their palace to the 
ground. 

Zeus was honoured as supreme deity by all Greek races 
alike, and all ascribed to him power and authority, such as 
no other god possessed. He knew the future as the present, 
and at Dodona in Epirus stood a sacred oak tree, whose 
leaves, by their rustling, revealed his will to men. In the 
sacred grotto of Mount Ida in Crete was another of his 
oracles. The worship of Zeus was diligently practised all 
through Greece. On the citadel of Athens there was a 
precinct of the god, and there the milder sacrificial rites 
instituted by Kekrops were kept up in his honour. His 
most splendid temple was at Elis, in the sacred precincts 
of Olympia, 1 and there might be seen the gold-ivory statue 
made by Pheidias, and reckoned among the seven wonders 
of the world. Ancient authors say that the majesty of the 
god was so perfectly embodied in this work of art, that an 
adequate description in words was impossible. There was in 
later days a temple of Zeus in almost every town of Greece. 

In the month Hekatombeion (July) of every fourth year, 
on the great plain of Olympia, were celebrated in honour of 
Zeus the Olympian Games, the greatest, most solemn and 
most famous of the four great national Games of Greece. 
The scene of the festival was the middle of the plain, where, 
among temples and rich treasuries, 2 stood the great altar of 
Zeus. Here the festal crowd paid common worship by 
sacrifice and prayer to the supreme deity of the Hellenes. 
The competitors in the Games did not strive for gold or silver : 
a simple olive wreath was the prize. During the festival 
quarrels were laid aside. Embassies attended from all parts 



Adolph Boetticher, " Olympia. ' 
Ibid. p. 49. 



26 THE GODS OF OL YMPOS [chap. 

of the mainland of Greece, from the islands, and from the 
colonies in Asia and Italy. After a great sacrifice to Zeus 
and a brilliant procession, the Games began. There were 
contests of men and boys in running, jumping, quoit throw- 
ing, wrestling and boxing, then races of two-horse and four- 
horse chariots, and afterwards the crowning contest in poetry 
and music. At the end all joined in a joyous banquet. 

Zeus was worshipped at Olympia as the god of physical 
courage and strength, on which the Greeks laid so much 
stress. Herakles, his son, the prototype of manly vigour, 
was supposed to have instituted these Games. 

The Nemean Games, also a tribute to the glory of Zeus, 
were never so widely popular as those of Olympia. They 
were celebrated in the valley of Nemea, where Herakles had 
slain the famous lion. 

Jupiter {Optimus Maximus) was not less honoured among 
the Romans than Zeus among the Greeks. Of all his 
temples in Rome, that on the Capitol was the finest and 
richest in costly votive gifts. Hence he was called Capitolinus. 
On the Capitol was a colossal bronze statue of the god, cast 
out of the spoils of the Samnite sacred legion. Jupiter has 
various names, derived from the different aspects of his 
divinity, or from the countries and towns where he was 
worshipped. 

The Roman or Great Games in honour of Jupiter were 
instituted by Tarquinius Priscus, and were celebrated in 
September by competitions and public banquets. 

The principal sacrifices to Zeus consisted of oxen. When 
a hundred oxen were offered the sacrifice was called a heka- 
tomb. Among trees, the oak and the olive were sacred to 
him. ; among birds, the eagle, which often appears as a 
symbol of his royalty. There were many representations of 
Zeus in plastic art. Among the most famous statues were 



HERA 27 



those of Phcidias and Lysippos. The most usual type shows 
him as a bearded man with flowing hair, throned upon a 
high seat, holding in his hand the thunderbolt or the 
sceptre, looking down on the spectator with a countenance 
full of calm grave benevolence. (See Plate I.) Sometimes 
the eagle stands beside him. As conqueror of the giants, 
Z<-us also appears standing on a chariot. 

2. Hera (Juno). 1 

Hera was the daughter of Kronos and Rhea, the sister and 
wife of Zeus. She shared the throne and the counsels of 
Zeus, and was revered by all the other gods. Like her 
husband, she could command clouds and lightning. Iris 
was her messenger to mortals, as Hermes was for Zeus. 
Hera was the special patroness of marriage, and bore 
the names Gamch'a (goddess of bridal), Zygia (of the 
bond), Tcleia (the accomplisher). The marriage of Zeus and 
Hera signifies the fertility of nature. In spring, when vegeta- 
tion awakes, the sacred espousals 3 of the heavenly pair were 
commemorated. Festal processions and solemn sacrifices took 
place, to which the participants came adorned with flowers 
and wreaths. 3 

As queen and faithful wedded wife, Hera insisted on due 
reverence and chaste morals both among gods and men. 
But Zeus gave her frequent cause for jealousy, and gods and 
men often broke the law of whose sanctity she was the 
guardian. Hence she appears in the Iliad and other poems 



* J. Overbeck, "Kunstmythologie." 

2 /Diodorus Siculus, bk. v. ch. iv. 

Ij. G. Frazer, "Golden Bough," i. 27S. 

3 Plutarch, Fragment IX. (for Daedala). 



mmmm 



28 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

as a proud, uncompromising, jealous and revengeful goddess, 
cruelly persecuting the favourites of Zeus. 

She sent a dragon to torment Leto ceaselessly, changed Vb, 
daughter of Inachus, into a cow, lynx, daughter of Pan, into 
a bird, and GaJanthis, Alkmene's confidant, into a weasel. 
She always bore a grudge against the children born to Zeus, 
as Herakles knew to his cost all his life. When Zeus became 
exasperated by his consort's doings, he treated her severely, 
even threatening her with corporal chastisement. Once, 
as a punishment for her persecution of Herakles, he hung 
her down from Heaven with golden chains on her hands, 
and heavy anvils attached to her feet. 1 

But these are only single instances. The attitude of Zeus 
to Hera is usually one of love and reverence, and the other 
gods, assembled in the palace of Zeus at feast or council, do 
her homage as queen and lady of Heaven. Hera's severity 
often became cruelty and harshness. She flung Side into 
Tartaros for having dared to vaunt her own beauty above 
that of the queen, who had stood with Pallas and Aphrodite 
before Paris ; and when Paris gave to Aphrodite the prize 
of beauty, Hera revenged herself on the city of Troy, and 
helped the Greeks, both by force and stratagem, in their war 
against it. 

The Greek and Roman women, especially, were devoted 
to the worship of Hera. The Heraion, 2 the oldest temple 
in Olympia, was dedicated to her, and at the great Games a 
race was run by young girls in her honour. 

The Char ites and Horai were attendants of Hera, and 
Iris her special hand-maid. Among animals, the peacock 
was sacred to her because of his pride and splendour, in 
Italy the goose and the cuckoo, the last because he is the 

1 Iliad, xv. 14. 

2 A. Boelticher, " Olympia." 




KERA. 

(VILLA LUDOVISI, ROME.) 



II.] 



JUNO 



29 



harbinger of spring, the season when Hera celebrated her 
marriage with Zeus. In Rome there were several temples to 
Jitno (Lucina). She was worshipped on the first day of 
each month, but especially in June, as the goddess presiding 




Fig. 3. Hera {Vatican, Rotne). 

over birth. This was the Feast of the Matronalia, when 
women went in solemn procession to sacrifice and gave gifts 
to their servants, relations and friends. In later times the 
special guardians of women were called Junones. 



-e 3 ^ 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



A royal diadem and sceptre are the attributes of Hera as con- 
sort of the supreme god, and as queen of Heaven she sometimes 
wears a veil spangled with stars. (Fig. 3.) She is usually 
represented as a majestic and beautiful woman, whose features 




i 



- fil 

Fig. 4. Nike of Samothrake {restored by ZumbuscK). 

express pride and dignity rather than gentleness, and whose 
large eyes are full of haughty command. Homer calls her 
" ox-eyed Hera." Sometimes she is seated on a throne hold- 
ing the sceptre and a pomegrarate, emblem of fertility, some- 



ii.] THE RETINUE OF ZEUS AND HERA 31 

times in a chariot drawn by peacocks, or again, she has the 
peacock at her side, and the cuckoo perched on her sceptre. 

3. The Retinue of Zeus and Hera. 

(a) Nike (Victoria). 

Nike (Victory) was the constant attendant of Zeus and his 
favourite daughter, Pallas Athene, and crowned the victorious 
warrior or the winner in civic games. She is called daughter 
of Zeus, or sometimes of the giant Pallas and the Okeanid 
Styx. There were numerous types of Nike in art. (Fig. 
4.) She appears holding a shield, with palm and wreath, 
emblems of victory, or with the kerykeion, Hermes' herald- 
staff, carrying the decrees of Zeus to men. She either 
fioats lightly in the air or stands upon the earth as the 
scene of victory. 

(/;) Iris. 

Iris, goddess of the rainbow, was the messenger of Zeus 
and Hera. She could dart quick as thought over the earth, 
even plunging into the sea and the rivers of the under- 
world. Iris lived with Zeus and Hera in Olympos, and the 
Immortals in council would often confer with her, and send 
her down to earth to guide and advise mankind. According 
to the legend, Iris was a daughter of Thaumas and Elektra, 
therefore a grand-daughter of Okeanos and Gaia. In art 
she is winged, and resembles Nike. She bears the kery- 
keion of Hermes, to express her office as messenger of the 
gods. ' 

(c) Hebe. 

Hebe, daughter of Zeus and Hera, was worshipped as the 
goddess of youth and its attendant pleasures. She bloomed 

1 Iliad, iii. 121. 



32 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

in everlasting freshness and beauty, for the nectar and 
ambrosia which she served to the gods at their feasts gave 
her immortality. She held the office of cup-bearer, but was 
superseded by Ganymedes, possibly after her marriage with 
Herakles. Hebe was expected to do service of many kinds 
to her parents. She helped Hera to yoke the team of 
horses to her chariot, or performed choric dances with other 
youthful goddesses, while Apollo played on the lyre and 
the Muses sang, or she took her place among the attendants 
of Aphrodite. Hebe is best known as the youthful bride of 
Herakles, and was often worshipped in conjunction with 
him. Near Phlius in Argolis there was a temple to Hebe 
surrounded by a grove, and famous as an asylum for fugitives. 
Juventas among the Romans corresponds to the Hebe of the 
Greeks. Works of art represent Hebe as a charming young 
girl in a thin robe, crowned with flowers, and pouring the 
drink of the gods from a flagon into a drinking-cup which 
she holds in her hand. 



(d) Ganymedes. 

Ganymedes was the son of the Trojan king Tros and of 
Kal/i'rr/ioe, and grandson of Dardanus, the founder of Troy. 
While he was keeping sheep on Mount Ida, Zeus was 
enamoured of his beauty, and, taking the form of an eagle, 
seized and carried him up to Olympos, where he made him 
Hebe's successor and cup-bearer of the gods. (Fig. 5.) 
Ganymedes is always represented as a lovely young boy. 
Sometimes he wears a Phrygian cap, thus showing the 
Asiatic origin of his legend. His office is indicated by the 
cup which he holds, and his duty as servant of the gods by 
the eagle of Zeus, which stands beside him and receives 
drink or caresses from his hand. 



II.] 



GANYMEDES 



33 



\M 





Fig. 5. Ganymedes, after Leochares {Vatican, Rome). 



34 THE GODS OF OL YMPOS [chap. 

(e) Themis. 

Themis was the daughter of Ouranos and Gaia, and 
symbolizes the pure unbiassed justice of the gods exercised 
in human affairs. The law of hospitality was under her 
special protection. She personifies the counsel of the gods. 
Hence she is said to have presided over the Delphic Oracle 
before Apollo, and to have been his teacher in the art of 
prophecy. After long resistance she consented to a marriage 
with Zeus ; she became his consort after Metis, and bore him 
the Horai and the Moirai. 

Because Themis united supreme wisdom and incorruptible 
truth, even the gods came to her for advice. Zeus refrained 
from a marriage with Thetis, because Themis predicted that 
Thetis' son should be mightier than his father. We shall 
relate elsewhere how Thetis was married to a mortal, that 
the gods might not have to fear her son. 

The worship of Themis as guardian of good morals, civil 
order and Divine law, was carried on in many parts of 
Greece, especially in Athens, Troezene, ^gina, Thebes and 
Olympia, where temples, altars and statues were erected in 
her honour. 

(f) The Horai. 1 

As daughters of Zeus and Themis, the Horai are the god- 
desses of the seasons. Their number is variously given, perhaps 
depending on the divisions of nature's year. Winter is some- 
times not reckoned, being the time when nature is asleep or 
dead. In Athens two Horai were worshipped, Thallo of the 
spring-time, and Karpo of the harvest ; in other places the 
Horai were usually three, the name of the third being 

/Robert Carolus, " De Gratiis Atticis " (in " Commentationes Philo- 
1 ] lopee in Honorem Theodor Mommsen "). 

(j. E. Harrison, " M) thology and Monuments," Div. D., Sect, xv.-xxii. 



ii.] THE HORAI 35 

Auxo. A fourth does occasionally appear later, who, although 
she has no individual name, is identified by her hunting- 
spoils as belonging to winter. These goddesses of favourable 
seasons, bringing blossom and fertility, form part of the 
following of the heavenly gods, especially of Zeus and Hera. 
They appear, too, with the Charites, in the train of Aphrodite 
or of Apollo and the Muses. Closely connected with their 
function as goddesses of fertility is their influence on the 
iveather. They have charge of the gates of heaven, " to open 
them or to set them to," * so that rain and sunshine may 
duly alternate and bring the fruits of the earth to perfection. 
Kind and gracious to the human race, they were thought of 
as a group of merry gentle girls bringing prosperity and 
cheerfulness in their train. 

It was not long, however, before men began to see in the 
regular alternation of the seasons an unchangeable law. To 
correspond with this new conception, the Horai were made 
daughters of Themis, and guardians of law and order. In this 
aspect their names have special significance. They are called 
Eunomia (good order), Dike (right usage), and Eirene (peace). 
Eunomia presides over civic relations, and that state is happy 
which never neglects her worship. The sphere of Dike is 
individual conduct, and she reports to her father, Zeus, every 
wrong done on the earth. Eirene, the most cheerful of the 
three, is mother of Ploutos (wealth), companion of Dionysos 
in his revels, and patroness of feasts and merry songs. (Fig. 6.) 

" Peace most holy, august, serene, 
O heaven-born queen. 
Peace with wealth in her arms." 2 

The Hora of the spring was worshipped most of all. Her 

1 Homer, Had, v. 749. 

2 Aristophanes, "Pax," 1127. 



36 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



name was sometimes Chloris, and she was married to the 
gentle Zephyros, whose breath calls forth the first flowers 
of the year. 




Fig. 6. Eirene with the young Plutos, after Kephisodoto {Munich). 

Plastic art represented the Horai as slender maidens, 
lightly draped and crowned with flowers and fruit. 



THE M01RA1 37 



(g) Divinities of Fate. 

The Greeks believed in a number of divinities, whose office 
it was to execute on earth the commands of the supreme 
gods, and especially of Zeus. Personifying the fixed decrees 
of nature, they watched over man's life and appointed his 
death hour. The gods themselves dared not interfere with 
their award, and were powerless to save their mortal sons 
and favourites, when once the divinities of Fate had resolved 
their death. The most important of these divinities are : — 

i. The Moirai (Fates). 

In the times before Homer we only hear of one Moira, 
the representative of justice and right reason in the order of 
the universe, and the ruler of gods and men. Even Zeus 
could not gainsay Moira. In later times there were three 
Moirai, whose activity was concentrated on man's existence 
in its three phases of birth, life and death. In this aspect the 
Moirai no longer mean the supreme moral law which Zeus 
must obey, but are, like the other gods, subject to Zeus. 

The Moirai are called daughters of Night, because they 
rule the dark and hidden destinies of men. They are named 
Klotho (spinner), Lachesis (lot-thrower), Atropos (the un : 
bending one). The emblem of a spinning-wheel expressed 
their mighty influence over human life. While life may last 
the sisters spin the thread, now thick, now thin, of gold, 
silver or wool ; when life must end they cut the thread 
asunder. 

The Moirai in late art are aged women of a serious counte- 
nance, grouped together and engaged in their typical employ- 
ment. They carry a spindle or the dice of fate, and some- 
times a roll of writing or a balance. 

The Romans knew the Moirai by the name of Parcae. 

2. Tyche, the Fortnna of the Romans, is closely connected 
with the Moirai. She is the goddess of chance, exercising a 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[CHAP. 



powerful influence for good or ill on the life of man, and is 
called a daughter of Zeus. Among the Greeks she was most 
frequently worshipped as the goddess who conducts under- 
takings to a fortunate issue. She carried a horn of plenty in 




Fig. 7. Fortuna (Vatican, Rome), 

her hand, and wore the polos — the symbol of wealth — on her 
head, or she grasped a rudder as if steering a ship on a pros- 
perous voyage. Wings, a ball and a wheel, which some- 
times appear as her attributes, signify the swift alternations 
of good and ill luck in human affairs. (Fig. 7.) 



ii.] TYCHE AND ATE 39 

Tyche received much honour in Greece, especially in 
Athens, whose inhabitants considered their civic and private 
life to be under her special protection. 

3. The gifts of Tyche ought to be enjoyed soberly, 
humbly and. prudently. When men are so uplifted by good 
fortune that they forget their weakness, and in their arrogance 
become worshippers of Hybris, goddess of insolent pride, Zeus 
sends a terrible punishment in the form of Ate, goddess of 
blind heedlessness, and under her influence they commit deeds 
which lead to their own destruction. Ate formerly lived 
with Zeus, her father, on Olympos, but having once de- 
ceived him, she was hurled down to the earth, and ever since 
she has been wandering about, neither seen nor heard of 
men, tempting them to act in wanton disregard of their real 
prosperity and advantage. Close on the heels of Ate, as she 
strides mightily along,follow the Litai 1 (prayers of penitence), 
doing their best to make good the wrong. They take the 
form of ancient women, ugly, but kindly disposed. The man 
who has committed a wrong must beg their good offices as 
intercessors, for only thus can he hope to atone for the injury 
done. If he obstinately refuse to leave his evil courses he 
must experience the full terror of Ate's revenge. 

4. Nemesis' 2 was the inevitable avenger of wrong, the 
preserver of right balance in all things, the meter out of just 
punishment. She laid down laws for men's conduct in pros- 
perity, imposed a check on arrogance, stopped the career of 
base men, and avenged all injuries on their authors. She 



1 Iliad, ix. 502. Litai are the prayers of penitence offered to the 
injured person by the one who had done him wrong. (See the Iliad, ed. 
by Walter Leaf.) 

I" American Journal of Archeology," 1890, p. 565 (for Rhanvnus) ; 
" Ephemeris Archaiologike," 1891 (for Nemesis and Adrasteia). 
Hermann Posnansky, " Nemesis and Adrasteia," Breslau, 1890. 



40 THE GODS OF 0LYMP0S [chap. 

was represented as a beautiful royal lady, with a thoughtful 
countenance, wearing a fillet or a crown. Her worshippers 
were found in many places. The Nemesia were celebrated 
in her honour at Athens, accompanied by public expiatory 
sacrifices. At Smyrna in Asia Minor there were several 
goddesses who bore her name and were worshipped as 
winged divinities, but her principal sanctuary Avas at 
Rhammis. In later times Adrasteza, an Asiatic avenging 
goddess, whose worship had been imported into Greece, was 
identified with Nemesis and was represented as pursuing 
evil-doers on a chariot drawn by griffins. 

The following are guardian spirits, sent by the supreme 
gods to watch over men. 

5. The Daimones. At a time when every tree, bush, and 
spring was believed to be the home of some divinity, and 
when all natural phenomena were ascribed to the direct 
interference of the gods, we shall be prepared to find that 
every human being had a special divinity as his guide and 
protector. This belief in guardian spirits is to be found 
among the oldest peoples of the East, and reappears, with 
differences in detail, answering to changed times and 
surroundings, in Greece and Rome. The daimones of the 
Greeks were lower divinities, the special servants of Zeus, 
and seem to have been thought of as souls of men of the 
golden age, appointed to sustain those who toiled and groaned 
under the bondage of the iron age: The Romans believed 
that every man had a genius, born with him and to die with 
him. It was the task of the genius to inculcate a wise and 
moderate (" genial ") enjoyment of life. Melancholy on the 
one hand, and licentious excess on the other, were displeasing 
to the guardian spirit. The Greeks were accustomed 
specially to invoke the Agathodaimon, " good demon," who 
protected individual men and gave prosperity to states and 



i i.J HERMES 41 

nations. He is represented as a youth, holding in the one 
hand a horn of plenty, and in the other poppies and ears of 
corn. 

4. Hermes (Mercurius). x 

Hermes was a son of Zeus and Mam, " the nursing 
mother," a daughter of Atlas, and was born at night in 
a secret cave of Mount Kyllene. 

From the very earliest times Hermes was worshipped 
among the Greeks as the god who makes flocks and herds 
thrive and multiply. Since flocks and herds form the chief 
wealth of primitive man, it was natural that Hermes should 
come to be regarded as the giver of all kinds of Avealth, 
no matter whence it was derived. Now, as commerce is 
one of the quickest and easiest ways of amassing wealth, 
Hermes became god of trade and protector of merchants. 
n, if trade is to be carried on safely the highways must 
be free and unmolested— -hence Hermes is the special protector 
of roads. As a trader who wishes to succeed must keep a 
wary eye on his own interests, Hermes is made the patron of 
foresight and prudence. It sometimes happens that trans- 
actions, not perhaps of the most upright nature, are carried 
through by talking the purchaser over, therefore Hermes 
was called the god of persuasive eloquence. Such persuasive 
talk may often border on deceptive cunning, therefore it is 
not surprising to find that Hermes is also the god of rogues 
and thieves. 

In early times people used to pick up the stones which lay 
on the ground, and pile them up in great heaps in public 
places and at cross-roads. Any one who passed a heap would 
put on another stone in honour of the god, and this custom 

1 II. D. Miiller, " Mythologie der griechischen Stammc," vol. ii. 



+2 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

not only kept the fields clear, but by improving the roadway 
made communication easier. Wooden or stone pillars were 
placed to serve as centres to these heaps ; they were emblems 
of the god, and were afterwards carved into the likeness ot 
his face. The well-known art-type of the Herm arose out 
of this custom, and was afterwards applied to representations 
of other divinities and to human portraits. 

Hermes, as messenger and herald of the gods, especially 
of Zeus, is the link of connection between heaven and earth, 
and reveals the gods' will to men-^-hence he presides over 
oracles, and in the underworld he leads the souls of the 
dead to Charon's bark, and thence to the throne of Aides. 
Hermes helped brave heroes who ventured into the under^ 
world — Herakles, when he fetched Kerberos, and Orpheus, 
when he went to beg his wife back from Plouton. 

Hermes being thus the mysterious link between the shadow- 
realm of Plouton and life on earth, is god of dreams, to the 
ancients dim pictures of the realm below, therefore the last 
libation in the evening was dedicated to him. As an under- 
world divinity he was also the protector of mines. 

As the god of youth Hermes was specially honoured. 
The Gymnasium and the Palaestra were supposed to be of 
his institution, and his statues were constantly placed in these 
centres of physical training, in order to recall his excellence 
in boxing, wrestling and quoit-throwing. In certain towns 
contests of boys, called Hermaia, took place in his honour. 
Children of tender age were supposed to be under his special 
care ; he is said to have taken charge of Herakles as a boy, 
and the famous statue of Praxiteles, found in Olympia, repre- 
sents him as nurse of the little Dionysos. 

On the very day of his birth Hermes * gave evidence of 

' Homeric Hymn to Hermes. 




HERMES OF PRAXITELES. 

(FOUND AT OLYMPIA. 1877. RESTORED BY SCHAPER.) 



ii.] TALES OF HERMES' YOUTH 43 

the prudence and cunning which were to distinguish him. 
Slvly and secretly he crept out of the cave on Mount Kyllene. 
and stole part of a herd of oxen belonging to Apollo, his 
brother. Apollo sought for his beasts long and in vain, for the 
crafty young god obliterated their tracks by tying bundles of 
twigs to their feet, and at last dragged them backwards into 
a cave in a hill, so that the hoof-marks appeared to be 
those of cattle which had been driven out. A countryman, 
however, who had observed the theft, told Apollo of it. Apollo 
was enraged, and dragged the mischievous boy before the 
throne of Zeus, that he might be punished. Hermes showed 
no fear, and made such merry jokes that he soon put Zeus 
and Apollo in good humour. He completed the reconcilia- 
tion by giving his brother a lyre, which he had made out of 
the shell of a tortoise and fitted with strings, while for his 
own use he invented the shepherd's flute. From this time 
the brothers were the best of friends, and in return for the 
lyre Apollo gave Hermes the golden wishing-rod of good 
luck. 

When Hermes was grown he practised the same craft and 
persuasion that he had possessed in so extraordinary a 
degree as a boy, and with the same success. He robbed 
Zeus of his sceptre, Aphrodite of her girdle, Hephaistos 
of his tongs, and Apollo of his bow and arrows. But the 
exploit which showed his powers in the most wonderful way 
was the following. 1 Io, who was beloved by Zeus, had been 
changed into a heifer in order that she might escape the 
jealous wrath of Hera, Hera discovered the trick, sent a 
gad-fly to torment Io, and finally told Argos to watch her. 
Now Hermes received from Zeus the command to free Io 
from the custody of Argos without using force. As the 

, I^Eschylus, Prometheus Vinctus. 
1 Euripides, Phoenissae. 



44 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

watcher, Argos, had a hundred eyes, and even in the deepest 
sleep only shut fifty of them, this was no light task, yet 
Hermes accomplished it. He first talked Argos over and 
won his confidence by all kinds of crafty tales, then he 
piped songs to him on the shepherd's flute and sent him so 
fast asleep that all his hundred eyes closed one after another, 
then he killed him and took Io away. Hera is said to have 
placed the eyes of Argos in the tail of her peacock. 

But the whole character of Hermes is not comprised in 
these traits of cunning and trickery. He was a skilful 
inventor. He made the lute for the Theban singer, Amphion, 
and taught Palamedes the alphabet. As god of eloquence 
Hermes was greatly reverenced in later times — hence the 
tongues of sacrificial victims were dedicated to him. When- 
ever heroes were called to dangerous adventures requiring 
skill and courage, Hermes appears as their leader, often in 
association with Athene, as in the tale of Herakles. Travellers 
who had lost their way, and exiles in a foreign country or 
among enemies prayed to Hermes for succour. 

In the fight with the giants Hermes saved his father, Zeus, 
from the power of Typhon, and he did many a good service 
for the other gods. But any man who approached him 
without due respect was severely punished. Battos, for 
instance, was turned into a stone for having revealed to 
Apollo the theft of his cattle. In early works of art Hermes 
is represented as a middle-aged man with a stiff pointed 
beard, wearing a chlamys hanging down behind, a travelling- 
hat and winged shoes, and carrying a staff in his hand. In 
later times he appears as a vigorous beardless youth with 
short hair, his head covered by the winged petasos, holding in 
his hand the kerykeion wound round with snakes, or the 
money bag, and having on his feet the winged sandals — 
symbol of swiftness. The most beautiful statue of Hermes 



ii.] ATHENE 



extant, that by Praxiteles (found in Olympia), represents the 
god as a blooming youth, holding the infant Dionysos on 
his arm. 

The worship of Mercurius was not so widespread among 
the Romans as that of Hermes among the Greeks. To the 
tribes of Italy he was essentially a god of trade and gain, and 
his cultus was not patronized by persons of high position. 
Merchants and artizans celebrated his festival at Rome on 
the 25th of May. 

5. Athene (Minerva). 1 

The current myth concerning the birth of Athene is that 
she sprang fully armed out of the head of Zeus, who had 
swallowed Metis, her mother. (Fig. 8.) At this great event 
heaven and earth trembled, the sea swelled high, and the 
daylight was obscured. It was Hephaistos, or, according to 
another version, Prometheus, who clove open the head of 
Zeus that Pallas might spring forth. Another myth makes 
her the offspring of Poseidon and the nymph Tritonis, and 
adds that Zeus adopted her as his daughter — hence her 
name Tritogeneia, or Tritonia? The popular legend of 
Athene's birth from the head of Zeus is founded on an idea 
similar to that which makes Hephaistos the son of Hera 
alone, for while Hephaistos, the god of earthly fire, has 
nothing to do with heaven, Athene, in her aspect of queen 
of the air, has nothing to do with earth. 

Athene has a double meaning. As Pallas she is a storm- 
divinity wearing the aegis, presiding over battles, and keeping 
the keys of the chamber where lie the thunderbolts of Zeus. 

K. O. Mueller, " Kleine deutsche Schriften," vol. ii. p. 134 (Pallas 

Athene). 
A. Voigt, " Beitrage zur Mythologie des Ares uder Athena." 
Jakob Escher, " Triton and seine Bekampfung." 



4 6 



THE GODS OF OL YMPOS 



[chap. 



In peace she becomes the instructress of man in wisdom, 
art, and handicrafts. 

Athene always remained a virgin, rejecting the offers 
of all her wooers. She fought on the side of Zeus in 
the war with the Titans and giants, bringing Herakles 
to his aid, and she herself defeated the terrible giant 
Enkelados. (Fig. 9.) When the kingdom of Zeus was 
established she became the patroness of those heroes who 
fought with evil men and monsters. She was the con- 
stant companion of Herakles in all his toilsome adven- 



;-*huj\ 




Fig. 8. Black-figured Vase: Birth of Athene [British Museum). 

tures, and she helped Perseus to slay Medusa, 1 whose 
head she placed on her shield. On account of the latter 
exploit she received the name of Gorgpohonc, (gorgon- 
slayer.) Associated with Hera, she protected the Argonauts, 
and Theseus accomplished his contests by her assistance. 
Nor did she forget the Greek heroes before Troy, for it was 
by her counsels, after a nine years' siege, that the town was 
taken. 

In times of peace Athene was the patroness of all kind.' 



f Apollodorus, ii. 4. 

I Ovid, "Metam ; " iv. 662. 



II] 



AT H EXE IN PEACE AND WAR 



M 



of arts and handicrafts. She invented the spindle, the loom 
and the flute, but shared with other gods the honour of 
having discovered the art of medicine. New-born children 
were specially under the guardianship of Athene as Kouro- 
trophos. The legend says that she helped Bellerophon to 
bridle the winged horse Pegasos, and in Athens, Erich- 
thonios first under her direction learned to yoke horses to a 
chariot. 

The land of Attika was Athene's special property, for she 




Fig. 9. Athene-group from the Altar-frieze of Pergamon (restored by Tondeur). 

had received it from the gods after the contest with Posei- 
don. Here she was more honoured than any other god, 
and Athens, the capital, bore her name. The most sacred 
emblem of her presence was the olive-tree on the Acropolis, 
which she had created in the strife with Poseidon, and 
from which all other olive-trees, forming as they did the 
chief wealth of Attica, were believed to have sprung. The 
following legend about the sacred olive-tree shows the 
Athenians' deep-seated belief in their goddess. When the 



48 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chak 

Persians marched against Greece with an overwhelming 
force Athene came to the throne of her father, Zeus, and 
begged that her city might be saved. But Fate had other- 
wise determined : Athens must be destroyed, although she was 
destined to rise again more glorious from her ruins. There- 
fore Zeus was forced to refuse his favourite daughter's request, 
the Athenians fled, taking refuge in their fleet, and the Per- 
sians razed Athens to the ground. In the fire which 
destroyed the Acropolis the sacred olive-tree perished, bat a 
new shoot quickly sprouted three yards high from the old 
stock — an omen of the new birth of the city from its ashes ; 
and with the help of the goddess the Athenians, at the head 
of the other Hellenes, fought the famous battle of Salamis, 
annihilated the Persian fleet, vastly superior in numbers, 
inflicted immense loss on the enemy, and forced them to a 
speedy and disgraceful retreat. 

Athene had many names, corresponding to her different 
functions and to the places in which she was worshipped. 
She was called Polias, protector of cities, Soteira, saviour, 
Parthenos, the virgin, Hippia, the horse-tamer, Ergane, 
skilled in handicraft, Nike, victorious, Glaukopis, grey-eyed, 
and her art-type varies accordingly. In her warlike func- 
tion she appears as a tall, majestic maiden of grave aspect, 
carrying a shield on her left arm and a spear in her right 
hand, wearing on her head a helmet decorated with a 
horse-hair crest, an owl or a sphinx, and girt with a 
breastplate edged with snakes and bearing on its front tlu 
head of Medusa. (Fig. 10.) As Ergane, goddess of femi- 
nine arts, she wears a peplos falling in ample folds, and a 
helmet, but instead of arms she holds a spindle. Sometimes 
she is attended by a snake — the emblem of health and wis- 
dom. The owl was specially sacred to her and hence 
became a symbol of wisdom. In every aspect Athene 




PALLAS ATHENE. 

(AFTER PHEIDIAS. FOUND AT ATHENS, l88o.) 



"•] 



NAMES OF ATI! EXE 



49 



is distinguished by clear insight and dispassionate judg- 
ment. 

The oldest wooden image of the goddess, supposed tc 




Fig. io. Pallas-Athene {Capitol, Rome). 

have fallen from heaven, was called the Palladion. Accord- 
ing to current legend it was at first in the possession of the 
royal family of Troy, and its presence ensured the safety of the 
city. In the Trojan war Odysseus and Diomedes took it away 

S 



So THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

by guile, and then the Greeks succeeded in taking the town. 
There was another story, that ^Eneas saved it from the 
burning temple and brought it uninjured to Italy. Other 
cities had other versions, and claimed to have originally 
possessed the real Palladion. This claim was made by Argos, 
Athens, and Rome, and in each case the prosperity and safety 
of the city were ensured by and dependent on the possession of 
the image. In Athens it was preserved on the Acropolis. 
The term Palladion was applied later to other sacred objects 
supposed to exercise a similar protective power. 1 

The most beautiful and significant representations of 
Athene were to be seen at Athens, and were the work of 
Pheidias, creator of the great statue of Zeus at Olympia. 
His gold-ivory temple statue in the Parthenon was specially 
famous. Plate IV. shows a late copy of this statue found in 
Athens in 1880, and reproducing tbe principal features of the 
original. On the Acropolis, in the open air, near the entrance, 
stood the colossal brazen statue of Athene Promachos, the 
leader in fight, also from the hand of Pheidias. Any one 
approaching Athens by sea could see her crest-spear point 
as soon as he rounded the promontory of Sunium. All 
antiquity acknowledged the glory of the masterpieces of 
Pheidias, whose essence, according to Winckelmann, was 
" noble simplicity and quiet majesty." 

The most brilliant festivals in honour of Athene took 
place in Athens, her favourite city, and were called the 
Panathenaia. These lasted on each occasion for several 
days. For three years in succession the lesser Panathenaia 
were celebrated, and on the fourth year, i.e., the third of 
each Olympiad, the greater Panathenaia. The festival was of 
great antiquity, and was said to have been established in its 

1 Otto Crusius, " Beitrage zur griechischen M/thologie und Religionsge- 
schichte." 1886. Thomas Schule, Programme No. 498. 



II.] FESTIVALS OF ATHENE 51 

complete form by Theseus, the favourite of the goddess. It 
was celebrated with solemn processions, war-games, rich 
sacrifices and banquets, in which all Athenian colonists took 
part. In this joyous assembly was commemorated the union 
of the separate townships of Attica into one great common- 
wealth under the protection of the goddess. The prize of 
victory was neither gold nor silver, but a vase of purest 
olive oil pressed from the fruit of Athene's sacred tree. 
These vases, many of which have been preserved, show on 
one side the figure of the goddess in fighting pose, and on 
the other a representation of the contest or game in which 
the prize was won. The last and crowning ceremony was 
the presentation of a rich and costly garment, embroidered by 
the Avives and maidens of Athens to deck the statue of the 
goddess. A splendid procession was formed, consisting of 
representatives of every class of citizen, young knights on 
horseback or in four-horse chariots, some of them fully 
armed, citizens with their wives and daughters, all in festal 
arrav. The magistrates of Athens offered the sacrifice to the 
goddess. Two girls of noble family, of the age of seven to 
eleven years, had served in her sanctuary all the preceding 
year. 

Among the numerous other festivals of Athene were the 
Chalkeia, in which she was worshipped specially as Ergane, 
patron of all kinds of feminine art, and of handicrafts in 
general. In this celebration Hephaistos, patron of smiths 
and gold-workers, was associated with her. 

Among the Romans, Minerva was the object of as zealous 
worship as Athene among the Greeks, for her qualities were 
suitable to the genius of the Roman people. She, too, was 
goddess of wisdom and reflection, and patroness of arts, 
handicrafts and domestic labours such as spinning, weaving 
and embroidery. But the warlike aspects of Pallas were 



52 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

transferred by the [talian tribes to other gods. There were 
in Rome several richly adorned temples of Minerva, one of 
the oldest of which stood on the Capitol. 

Great reverence was paid to her statue, the Roman 
Palladium, and a festival in her honour, called the Ouin- 
quatria, was celebrated every fifth year from the 1 9th to the 
23rd of March. Artists, artizans and especially school- 
children, took part in it. 



6. Apoll'on (Apollo). 1 

Apollo was twin brother of Artemis and son of Zeus. 
His mother was Leto, and, according to the best known 
legend, she bore him on the island of Delos, one of the 
Kyklades, in the Ionian Sea, having after long wanderings 
at last found refuge there from the persecution of Hera. 
The legend says that the island was a barren rock floating 
about in the sea,' but after the birth of the god it stood still, 
gleaming with golden light, and was surrounded by sacred 
swans who swam over the sea. Therefore the birthday of 
Apollo was celebrated at Delos at the beginning of May. 

Apollo is the glorious god of light, not only of the sun, 
but of everything beautiful and noble. His name, Phoz'bos, 
the gleaming one, expresses this aspect of his character. 
Knowledge, truth, justice and purity are under his pro- 
tection. 

The Apollo myths are old indigenous products of Greece, 
not imported, like those of Aphrodite and Dionysos, from 
the East. It is true that light- and sun-gods, presenting 
points of similarity to Apollo, were worshipped by Oriental 



Homeric Hymn to Apollo. 

Thcodor Schreiber, " Apollon Pythoktonos. 




APOLLO BELVEDERE. 

(ROME.) 



n. I APOLLO 53 

They personify the same aspects of nature, but have 
no further connection with him. 

The most important place for the worship of Apollo was 
Delphi, where the famous fight with the dragon took place, 
the god of light slew with his arrows the Python, a 
monstrous dragon of darkness, who crawled down from the 
mountains to dry up woods and meadows with his poisonous 
breath, and to destroy men and beasts. 

The beautiful legend of Apollo's sojourn among the 

rborcans was founded on the yearly variation of 

the sun. In autumn the god was accompanied by his 

hippers on the first stage of his journey, as far as the 

boundary of his sanctuary, and solemn rites celebrated his 

: ; are. Far north, in the dwelling of Apollo's sacred 

. in the country of eternal light, beyond snows and 

-, lived the Hyperborean?, 1 a pious people resembling 

irly races of men. There was never a cloud in their 

sky, and they lived with Apollo as children with a father. 

There, with his mother and sister, Apollo spent the three 

r months, and in spring he returned to his own at 

hi, and was received with songs of delight. Hence the 

most important festivals at Delphi were held in spring. 

Next to the Olympian games the Delphian were the most 

" d of all. The god was honoured by magnificent 

ests and sacrifices, and the laurel-crown of Delphi was as 

worthy the winning as the prize of Olympia. 

At many points Apollo came into contact with human 

As vigorous hunter and brave warrior he was the 

for the emulation of youth, on the field of battle he 

appeared as the Death-god, the unerring Far-darter, and in 

the Niobe legends he dries and withers the tender growths 

* See Roscher's Lex ikon. 



54 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

of the soil with his burning rays. Hero-legends are full of 
the names of brave men, Achilles, Patroklos, Neoptolemos 
and others whom he overcame. 

Apollo Nomios was god of flocks and herds, and protected 
them and the shepherds who tended them. Indeed on one 
occasion he turned shepherd himself, when he fed the flocks 
of Laomedon, and kept them fat and thriving. He drove 
away the pestilence rising from the swamps in summer, and 
as physician cared for the growth of healing plants. Roads 
and house-doors were under his charge, and cylindrical 
tapering pillars were placed in house-yards as his emblems. 
Seamen worshipped Apollo as protector of the high seas and 
harbours. He is called Delphinios, because the dolphin, 
whose element is the water, and about whose tameness and 
love of music so many tales are told, was sacred to him. 
This brings us to an important function of Apollo. Among 
all the god's wondrous ways of touching the human heart, 
music is the first. The Greeks believed that Apollo himself 
in a rich long robe would delight the gods by playing on 
the lyre, while the Muses sang sweetly to his tune. All 
poetic inspiration was ascribed to him, and at all festivals, 
but especially in Delphi, musical competitions took place in 
his honour. 

Apollo was supposed to stand in very close relation with 
the mantic art which interprets the secrets of the future. In 
the very oldest times we hear of many of his oracles — for 
instance, that in the sanctuary of the Branchidai at Miletus, 
in Asia. But the most important of all, which exer- 
cised an almost unbounded influence over the Greeks of 
the classical period, and was regarded with great reverence 
even in later times, was the oracle of Delphi. The god 
spoke by the mouth of the Pythia, or priestess. She sat on 
a high golden tripod over a cleft in the earth, out of which 



ii] THE ORACLE OF DELPHI 55 

a damp intoxicating vapour arose, and when overpowered 
by the fumes and in a state of semi-trance, she gave forth 
prophecies in separate ejaculations, which the priests trans- 
lated into verses, cleverly arranged to contain a double 
meaning, and easily misunderstood. The following is an 
example. When the whole Persian power was preparing 
to invade Greece the oracle advised the Athenians to take 
shelter within a wooden wall. The Athenian elders, mis- 
understanding this saying, surrounded the Acropolis with a 
wooden palisade, which was of course of no avail against 
the enemy. ButThemistocles and the younger men thought 
the " wooden wall " meant a fleet, and by taking to their 
ships they won the glorious victory of Salamis, and saved 
the city and all Hellas. By this ambiguity in its replies the 
oracle of Delphi kept up its reputation for infallibility, and 
preserved its influence. 

Apollo had a second function in Delphi. He was the 
alleviator of remorse and the expiator of guilt. He himself 
had incurred blood-guiltiness by slaying the dragon Python, 
and must undergo a hard expiation before he could again 
become the bright-beaming Phoibos ; therefore he freed 
miserable fugitives from the pursuit of the Fates and 
avenging gods. The legend of Orestes, pursued by the 
Erinyes for the murder of his mother, and finding safety 
and rest only in the sanctuary of Apollo, shows the god in 
this aspect. 

Of the many legends which cluster round the name of 
Apollo we may relate a few of the most important. Accord- 
ing to one, he was brought up, not by his mother, Leto, but 
by Themis, who fed him with nectar and ambrosia. Within 
a few hours from his birth he grew to blooming manhood 
and entered on his power. After wandering through many 
countries he came to the quiet rocky vale of Delphi, and fixed 



56 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

on it as the place whence his oracles should be announced to 
men. In this lovely spot in the heart of Greece there was 
already an ancient oracle of Themis, but she gladly abdicated 
her seat to her young fosterling. To no purpose did the 
dreadful dragon Python seek to hinder the home-coming of 
the god, for Apollo, relying on his unerring bow, withstood 
the dragon and killed him. So he won his famous seat, and 
received the surname of Pythios in commemoration of his 
victory. The gift of prophecy was conferred on him by his 
father, Zeus, whose mouthpiece to men he was to become. 
Apollo remained in possession of Delphi, but was often obliged 
to fight to protect his sanctuary. Once when Herakles tried 
to force the priestess to give an answer, and was about to 
drag away the tripod, Apollo came to the rescue, but before 
the quarrel could grow into a fight Zeus interfered and 
reconciled the brothers, who became from that time the 
most devoted friends. When in the year 279 B.C. a 
vast multitude of Gauls led by Brennus came to plunder 
Delphi of its costly temple-treasures, Apollo, with the aid of 
Artemis and Athene, brought down a storm of hail and 
thunder on their heads and so terrified them that they fled 
in panic. 

When Zeus fought with the Titans and giants Apollo was 
of great service to him by his skill and certainty in shooting 
with the bow. Yet on one occasion he made his father so 
angry, that he was obliged to leave Olympos for a time. 
Zeus had slain Apollo's son. Asklepios, with his thunderbolt, 
and Apollo took vengeance by killing some of the Kyklopes 
with his arrows. So he was forced to serve King Admetos ot 
Pherai, in Thessaly, like a mere mortal, and herd his cattle, 
as he had formerly herded those of Laomedon in the Asian 
Troas. In his vexation at being banished from Olympos 
Apollo conspired with Poseidon to dethrone Zeus, but they 



NIOBE 57 



were both defeated, and as a pvinishment were set to build 
the walls of Troy. The poets say that, during this time of 
enforced toil, Apollo had a strife with Pan, who maintained 
that the flute was a better instrument than the lyre. Midas, 
King of Lydia, was the umpire, and decided in favour of Pan, 
and to punish him Apollo caused great ass's ears to grow on 
his head. Afarsyas, a satyr, who had ventured to compete 
with Apollo in the art of music, was cruelly put to death. 

Niobe, 1 - wife to Amphion, the famous lute-player of 
Thebes, the son of Zeus and Antiope, and mother of a 
troop of lovely children, had boasted in her pride over Leto. 
Apollo and Artemis, stung by this insult to their mother, 
resolved to punish the arrogance of Niobe. In spite of 
her entreaties, they struck down with their arrows her 
seven sons and seven daughters, and Amphion slew himself 
when he heard that his sons were dead. Niobe wept till she 
became a stone, and was carried by a whirlwind across the 
sea to Asia Minor, where, on Mount Sipylos, her stone 
image still sheds tears. 2 

The sanctuaries of Apollo on the Peloponnesus were 
specially important. In the worship of Apollo Hyakinthos, 
in Amyklaz, mournful songs were sung and poetical com- 
petitions were held celebrating the life, death, and reawaken- 
ing of nature. The myth which the festival commemorated 
was that of Hyakinthos, youngest and most lovely son of 
Amyklas, and beloved by Apollo. One version of the tale 
related that he met his death by misadventure, being struck 
by a quoit which Apollo threw ; another, that the wind-god 
Zephyros, being jealous of Apollo, flung a quoit at 
Hyakinthos' temple and thus slew him. The death of the 

1 Eduard Thremer, " Pergamos " (Niobe, p. 4). 
g j Iliad, xxiv. 603. 

{Ovid, " Metamorphoses," vi. 3. 



58 THE GODS OF OL YMPOS [chap. 

boy, and his transformation into the flower of the same name, 
were expressed in the mourning at the beginning of the 
festival, his joyous revivification in the celebrations of the 
second and third days. This myth, like that of Persephone, 
is closely connected with the alternation of the seasons. 
Nature, in form of a lovely boy, is slain by the disc of 
Apollo, which can be nothing else than the sun, drying and 
withering the tender plants with his heat. The grave of 
Hyakinthos was shown in Amyklai, underneath a costly 
throne which supported a statue of Apollo, accounted one of 
the oldest and most famous works of art in Greece. 1 

The Karneia were the chief festivals of Apollo in many 
towns of Peloponnesus, but especially in Sparta, where they 
took a warlike character. The whole population marched 
out of the town in full fighting gear, and encamped for several 
days in tents, as if for a campaign. At this time the god was 
worshipped in his destroying aspect of heat and fever ; people 
encamped in the open air to escape his evil influence, and 
tried to pacify him by expiatory offerings. This feast was 
held very sacred in Sparta, and from thence its observance 
spread far and wide, wherever tribes of Dorian stock had settled. 

Apollo Delfthim'os, the lord of the sea, was worshipped in 
many places, but especially in Athens, where was the Del- 
phinion, the oldest place of trial and expiation for blood-guilti- 
ness. In Athens, too, was celebrated in April the feast of the 
Delphinia, 2 supposed to be the institution of Theseus before 
he sailed to Crete to set the hostages free. In May followed 
another festival of Apollo, the Thargelia, celebrated with 
offerings of fruits, and sacrifices whose ritual offered here and 
there reminiscence of the old times when human lives were 
given to the gods. 

1 Pausanias, iii. I. 

3 W. Mannhardt, " Wald-und Feldkulte" (Eiresione). 



II.] KARNEIA, DELIA AND METAGE1TINA 59 

The Delia, an important festival of the Ionic Greeks, was 
celebrated at the same time. In the merry feast of the 
Mktageitina, which took place in August, Apollo, as god of 
harvest and plenty, entertained the other gods. The first- 
fruits of the field and the bakehouse were offered to him, 
and boys with wreaths on their heads went about the town 
to deck the houses with the Eiresione, an olive-branch bound 
with fillets and decked with cakes and fruit. The custom of 
offering human victims as an expiation of guilt survived in 
the sacrifice of two condemned criminals, male and female, 
the first for the men and the second for the women. These 
persons were led in solemn procession out of the town, and 
there put to death. 

In the autumn festival of the month Boedromion, Apollo 
was worshipped as protector of warriors and giver of victory. 

The worship of Apollo was first introduced into Rome in 
the year 320 b.c. by the dedication of a temple to him in 
fulfilment of a vow made during a pestilence. A second 
temple was built soon after on Mount Capitolinus. The 
Apolline games were instituted during the second Punic 
war, and held in great esteem. 

The many-sided divine nature of Apollo finds art expres- 
sion in a great variety of symbols and images. As the 
warlike Far-darter, he is distinguished by bow and arrow ; 
as god of music, harp-player or leader of the Muses, he is 
represented in a long garment, with a cloak reaching to his 
feet and the lyre in his hand ; the tripod is the symbol of 
Apollo as seer. 

From the earliest times the olive was Apollo's tree. The 
Delphic wreath of victory was woven of simple olive-twigs 
plucked in the sacred grove, and olive-trees shaded the 
sanctuary. It was said that Apollo had changed his beloved 
Daphne into an olive, which ever after remained his favourite 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



tree. The doe, the roe, and the wolf were also sacred to 
Apollo. The swan, far in the north, and the music-loving 





V 




dolphins, belong to the retinue of Apollo Musagetes. Other 
sacred animals are the griffin and the mouse. 

Poets and sculptors often made Apollo their subject, and 



ARTEMIS 6 1 



they conceived him as a vigorous blooming youth with long 
fli uving 1< k ks. The famous Belvedere statue in Rome shows 
Apollo as the fighter, who puts his enemies to flight by 
holding out his aegis. The " Musagetes " in the Vatican 
presents the god of music in a long robe, and a whole series 
of beautiful statues have survived in which Apollo is repre- 
d as on the point of slaying a lizard just running up a 
tree. These surviving works of art are probably to be referred 
to an original Apollo Sauroktonos by Praxiteles. (Fig. n.) 

7. Artemis (Diana). 1 

Artemis was daughter of Leto and twin-sister of Apollo. 
She was the symbol of the moon and the night, as Apollo of 
an and the day. There are two aspects in which the 
moon may be considered. As a mere heavenly body Selene 
is her representative. As a power influencing the life of 
plants, animals and men all over the earth, she is personified 
a. . Irtemis. The myths of Selene and Helios were of lesser 
importance; those of Apollo and Artemis had a real and 
religious significance. 

The myths of Artemis are very numerous. 

In hot southern countries plants and fruits thrive best 
during the cool of night, refreshed by the heavy dew which 
for many months together takes the place of rain. It is 
well known that the dew falls most heavily when the sky 
is clear and the moon bright— hence it was said to be the gift 
of Artemis. She was believed to range at night through 

rest, mountain, and valley, with nymphs of the springs and 

> in her following, herself excelling them all in beauty 

and stature. She was worshipped at springs, near rivers 



( Andrew Lang, " Myth, Ritual and Religion."' 
Ilmmerwahr, "Mythen und Kulte Arkadiens." 



62 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

and in damp meadow marshes. In other places she appears 
as goddess of harp-playing and dancing, while Athene and 
Aphrodite, with the Muses, Charites and nymphs, were 
often supposed to join her merry sports. The fertilizing 
aspect of Artemis may be derived from her power as a 
moon-goddess, while as patroness of music she was no doubt 
closely connected with Apollo. 

One of the functions of Artemis was to preside over birth, 
in this office she is called Eileithvia, a name sometimes borne 
by Hera for the same reason. In general, Artemis appears 
as a goddess of the feminine principle in nature and human 
life, childhood and youth are under her special protection, 
and in many parts of Greece festivals of dance and song were 
celebrated by maidens in her honour. 

Artemis was also a death-goddess, particularly in those 
forms of death whose causes were unknown or mysterious ; 
any one who died suddenly was said to have been slain by 
the a painless darts " of Apollo or Artemis. Apollo was the 
slayer of men, and Artemis of women. 

As the light of the moon is the emblem of purity, Artemis 
was thought of as a fair, fresh maiden, patroness of all chaste 
youths and girls, whose offerings of flower-wreaths she 
received in spring. In this aspect she was worshipped in 
Athens, Corinth and Thebes. 

Through her function as goddess of fertility, Artemis 
becomes the guardian of wild animals in the woods and 
fields, and patroness of the chase. She guards 

" Every feathered mother's callow brood, 
And all that love green haunts and loneliness." 2 

Among primitive tribes in wooded countries hunting is an 
important occupation, and such tribes believed that wild, no 
less than tame animals, especially young ones, needed special 

1 R. Browning. 



II.] ARTEMIS OF EPHESOS 63 

divine care. In archaic works of art Artemis appears clothed 
in a skin as huntress, sometimes winged, and holding young- 
panthers or lions. 

Artemis, while still very young, elected to remain a virgin. 
Like Athene, she was devoted to strict chastity, and punished 
with great severity any transgression of this law by the 
nymphs in her train. Those who did not approach her with 
due respect must suffer for their fault ; when the Grecian 
armament was ready to sail to Troy she detained them by 
storms in the harbour of Aulis, because the leader, Aga- 
memnon, had killed a fawn sacred to her, and she punished 
the Aitolians by letting loose on their country the wild 
Kalydonian boar, which devastated their fields till Melea- 
gros slew it. Those who offended her divine modesty 
were punished with severity, even cruelty. Such were 
Orion, who pursued her with lawless love, and Actaion, 
who surprised her in the bath, and was transformed into a 
stag to be torn in pieces by his own hounds. As the aveng- 
ing death-goddess, she slew the daughters of the proud 
Theban queen, Niobe. 

The chase was Artemis' favourite pastime, and, like Apollo, 
she never missed her mark. (Fig. 12.) 

In Asia Minor in very early times there was a strange 
confusion between the true Greek Artemis and indigenous 
Eastern divinities, of whom the famous Artemis of Ephesos 
was the most important. She was not the chaste maiden 
goddess whom we know in Greece, but the many-breasted 
nurse and foster-mother of the life of nature. Her sanctuary 
was the religious centre for all the Ionians, for they had 
adopted into their custom and ritual some essential features 
of the popular faiths of Asia. Her temple in Ephesos was 
adorned with columns, pictures and rich votive gifts ; her 
festivals were celebrated with great pomp, in the excited and 



64 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



enthusiastic manner which we associate with the worship of 
Rhea, and which ' we shall observe again in the cultus of 
Dionysos. This splendid sanctuary was accoimted one of 
the seven wonders of the world. Herostratos of Ephesos 




| 




i 



Fig. 12. Artemis ( Vatican, Rome). 

set lire to it for the sake of notoriety, and legend said that 
on the very night in which its smoking ruins fell, Alexander 
the Great was born. The fall of the temple was interpreted 
(after the event) as a forecast of the ruin of the Persian 



n.] ARTEMIS OF TAURIS 65 

Empire. Alexander rebuilt the temple of Artemis on a 
more magnificent scale, and we know that when Saint 
Paul came to Ephesos the worship of the goddess was still 
at its height, for the goldsmiths of the city were making 
large sums of money by the manufacture and sale of little 
temple images. 

The Artemis who was worshipped at Tanris on the Black 

Sea was a gloomy, cruel divinity, in front of whose statue 

es was to be sacrificed by the hand of his own sister. 

human victims were offered to Artemis Orthta or 
OrthostUy in Sparta, from very early times. One legend told 
that Orestes had brought the image of the goddess from 
Tauris to Peloponnesos, and thus introduced her worship. 
her story was that the image fell down from heaven, 
and was found in a thicket by two Lakonians, who were at 
once struck with madness. Bloody strife arose about the 
possession of the image, and to expiate this bloodshed, yearly 
human sacrifices were instituted, which were afterwards 
abolished by Lykourgos and replaced by scoiirging of boys. 

goddess of fertility and health in the animal and 
vegetable world Artemis was worshipped in Lakonia and 

\e with country songs, dances, and merriment. In 
Athens she had a temple on the Ilissos, where she appears 
both as warrior goddess and as huntress. Her most im- 
portant festival in Athens was the Elaphebolia in spring, 
when five hundred goats were sacrificed to her in memory 
of the victory of Marathon. In the month Munychion round 
cakes representing the full moon were ornamented with 
candles and offered to her. 

Some very ancient representations of the winged Artemis 

are still extant. As guardian of wild beasts she holds in 

each hand a panther or a lion, and sometimes a stag. Later, 

as her huntress aspect was more emphasized, she was repre- 

6 



66 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

sented attended by a hind, carrying bow and arrows, and a 
quiver on her shoulder, with high-girt raiment and close- 
bound hair, speeding after the quarry. She is the type of 
maidenly dignity and beauty, and is praised as " Fairest " by 
the poets. 

8. Kindred Divinities to Apollo and Artemis. 
(a) Gods of Ltght? 

i. Helios (Sol). While the Greeks acknowledged Apollo 
as the god of the all-pervading light of day, Helios was, in 
a more limited sense, the personification of the sun in his 
daily and yeariy course. Like his sister Eos, the dawn, 
Helios drove a chariot with four white fire-breathing 
horses. He rose at morning from the river Okeanos, 
drove up the vault of heaven, and sank in the evening 
with his weary horses into the cool waves of the sea, to 
pass the night in the golden palace of Thetis. 

Helios was called a son of Hyperion and Theia. His 
wife Perse, an Okeanid, bore him Aietes and Kirke. 
Helios was worshipped in different places, especially on the 
sea, out of which he rose, and on high mountains, where 
he was first seen. Rhodos was specially sacred to him, for 
when the world was divided, it had fallen to his share of 
possessions. There stood his huge statue, known as the 
Colossus of Rhodes, and counted one of the seven wonders 
of the world. In the hot season, when the sun's rays have 
most power, a festival called the Heliaia, was held in his 
honour, when horses were thrown from the heights into the 
sea as offerings to him, chariot races were run and athletic 
contests fought. Dorians from the neighbouring islands 
came in crowds to this festival. 

1 W. H. Roscher, " Selene und Verwandtes." 



II.] HELIOS AND PHAETHON 67 

The Odyssey tells of the sacred herds of Helios on the 
island Trinakria : seven heads of cattle, and as many of sheep, 
which neither increased nor diminished in number, pastured 
there under the care of the nymphs, and were the proudest 
possesion of the god. 

Just as Apollo enjoyed the homage of the faithful pious 
Hyperboreans of the North, Helios was the special divinity 
of the Aithiopoi, a sacred nation, who were supposed to 
live in the Far East, where Helios rose out of the sea, to 
be richly endowed with wealth by the god, and to enjoy 
perpetual peace and a harvest all the year round. 

Helios had a number of children, but by far the most 
famous was Phaethon, whom Klymene bore him. On 
one occasion Phaethon had been quarrelling with Epaphos, 
son of Zeus and Io, about his own origin, and he begged 
Helios to prove his fatherhood by granting him a single 
request. When Helios had sworn by the Styx to agree to 
what he should ask, Phaethon begged to be allowed to drive 
un-chariot for one day. Helios was startled by this 
foolhardiness, and well knowing what dangers his dear son 
would incur, he tried to dissuade him from his purpose. 
But it was all in vain, Phaethon only besought more eagerly, 
and as Helios was bound by the gods' most sacred oath, he 
was obliged to give way in spite of his sorrow. The youth, 
win- did not know the course of the sun, soon lost control 
of his team, as Helios had foreseen, his senses became con 
I, and his strength failed. The fiery steeds left the 
track, and at last brought the glowing chariot so near the 
earth, that the soil cracked with the heat, the springs dried 
up, rivers and seas began to boil, and some races of men 
burnt black. Zeus was alarmed and surprised at this 
new danger threatening earth, and to put a stop to the 
wholesale destruction, he hurled his thunderbolt at Phaethon, 
who fell dead from the chariot into the river Eridanos. 



68 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



Phaethon's three sisters, the Heh'ades, or daughters of the 
sun, Phaethusa, Aigle, and Lamftetia, wept long for him, 
and were turned into poplar trees, which stood, still 
shedding tears, on the banks of the Eridanos. Helios 
changed the tears of his daughters into electron, or amber, 
a substance on which the Greeks set a high value. 

Phaethon's friend, Kyknos, who died of grief for his 







loss, lived on afterwards in the form of a swan. Helios 
himself, full of sorrow at his son's death, of which his own 
ill-considered oath had been the cause, could hardly be per- 
suaded by the entreaties of the gods to take the guidance 
of the sun-car again into his hands. Artists represent Helios 
as a youthful charioteer with a crown of rays. (Fig. 13.) 
The Romans saw in Sol the type of a vigorous, skilful 



II.] SELENE AND EOS 69 

charioteer, and therefore they placed him among their gods, 
and ascribed to him the patronage of race-courses and 
chariot contests. 

2. Selene (Luna), the gentle goddess of the moon, bears 
the same relation to Artemis as Helios to Phoibos Apollo. 
According to the usual conception, she was a young and 
beautiful woman, daughter of Hyperion, or Pallas, and 
sister of Helios. All the stars must disappear before her 
light, and when Helios sinks with his four-horse chariot 
into the ocean, Selene, driving her pair of white horses, 
and veiled in a wide flowing cloak, follows his track over 
the heavens, or fades before him. Her attribute is a crescent 
over the forehead, and sometimes a torch. 

The story of Selene and Endymion, her beloved, was a 
favourite subject in poetry and sculpture. Plunged by 
Zeus into eternal slumber, the youthful shepherd rests in 
a cave of Mount Latmos, in Karia, and is visited every night 
by the goddess. 

3. Eos (Aurora), the morning glow, also called Hemera, 
goddess of the day, was a daughter of the Titan Hyperion and 
of a Titaness Theia — hence she is sister to Helios and Selene. 
She is the rosy light which ushers in the day and drives 
away the twilight. As she appears, Selene and the stars 
grow pale ; but she, too, must flee before the strong rays of 
the sun, who follows close upon her steps. The poets tell 
how she draws back with rosy fingers the veil of night, 
rising from Okeanos in the East, on her car drawn by white 
horses, and bringing with her the first light of day. Others 
say that the winged horse Pegasos, after he had thrown 
Bellerophon, the brave and over-bold hero, who tried to ride 
to Olympos, was given to Eos by Zeus. 

Eos was wedded to Astrazos, 2, Titan god of starlight, and 
bore the four winds, Zephyros, Boreas, Notos and Euros, 



70 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



and the Morning Star. This myth may have its origin in 
the circumstance, that when the dawn has broken, the stars 
have not yet disappeared, and that when Eos and Astraios 
are married, a fresh invigorating wind arises, scattering the 
mist or spreading it as dew on the ground. 

Eos had many favourites among the hunters whom she 
met at early dawn in the woods. She carried off four such : 
Orion, Kleitos, Kephalos (Fig. 14), and Tithonos. For Ti- 
thonos, Eos begged immortality from the gods, but she forgot 
to add a request for eternal youth ; so while the goddess re- 
mained a youthful maiden, Tithonos grew weak and withered, 




Fig. 14. Blacas Krater : Eos pursues Kephalos at sunrise [British Museum). 

until he was tired of life, and the gods out of pity changed 
him into a grasshopper. 

The story of Kephalos and Prokris is well known. When 
Kephalos was carried off by Aurora, Prokris, his wife, who 
loved him tenderly, sought for him everywhere, and, stung 
by jealousy, hid herself in a thicket, that she might spy his 
meeting with the goddess. Kephalos, thinking he saw some 
wild animal stirring in the thicket, cast his spear and killed 
Prokris. 1 

" I heard the rustle of a falling leaf 

As though a beast were stirring in the brake, 
So drew my bow and sped a flying shaft ; 
But Procris in her breast received the wound, 

1 J. E. Harrison, " Mythology and Monuments," lx.-lxiii. 



II.] STARS 71 

And cried * Alas ' ! and when I heard the cry 
My senses reeled, I ran, and in my arms, 
These guilty arms, I lifted, scarce alive, 
Her who was dearer than myself to me." ' 

The son of Tithonos and Eos was Menmon, an ally of the 
Trojans, remarkable for his beauty. He came from Ethiopia, 
for all divinities of light have their origin in the East. 
When he had fallen by the hand of Achilles his mourning 
mother bore him to his home, where he was long honoured 
as a hero cut off in youth, and the ancients reported that the 
marvellous pillars near the Egyptian Thebes, whose peculiar 
property it was, when the first rays of dawn fell on them, 
to utter a sound like the breaking of a lyre string, had been 
erected by Eos to her son. When the Persian king, Kam- 
byses, subjugated Egypt he caused these famous monuments 
to be thrown down. Their fragments still excite the 
astonishment of all travellers, although it has long since 
been proved that they are the monuments of ancient 
Egyptian kings, and have nothing to do with Memnon. 

4. Stars. Most of the Greek legends about stars were 
connected with those which affected man's character and 
destiny by their conjunction, or exercised by their ap- 
pearance at stated times a powerful influence on the crops 
and the weather. 

The morning and evening stars were called Phosphoros 
and Hcsperos, twin-brothers, sons of Eos and Kephalos. 
Phosphoros, the only star which does not pale before the 
dawn, was represented as the forerunner of Eos, carrying a 
torch ; Hesperos, as the usher of night. Stars are represented 
in art as young boys. 

The constellation of Orion is remarkable for its brilliancy 
and beauty. He was a strong giant, who loved the chase, 

1 Ovid, Met. vii. 



72 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

and pursued it even in the underworld, where Odysseus 
met him. His early setting in autumn announced the 
winter and storms at sea, and hence he was called a son 
of Poseidon and a sea nymph. 

Sczrws, the dog-star, brings in the hot season, when the 
glowing sky threatens to dry up and wither all vegetation. 
His baneful influence is figured in the story of Actaion, the 
youthful hunter who was torn to pieces by his own dogs, 
maddened by the heat. Arzstaws, 1 son of Apollo and a 
nymph, was invoked as a protector against the destructive 
rage of the dog-star. Mother Earth had taught him how to 
tend the flocks and how to pacify Scirios with sacrifices and 
expiations. 

Husbandmen watched eagerly for the Pleiades, for when 
they appeared in the sky, it was time to sow the corn. 
There were seven Pleiades, and all but one, Merope, were 
immortal. Legends of the Pleiades are closely bound up 
with those of other gods. Their rising was a favourable 
sign to seamen, for they brought the summer calms, 
whereas the Hyades were heralds of the rainy and stormy 
months. The Pleiades had been translated to the sky with 
Orion because he was always pursuing them, and the Hyades, 
because they could not be comforted for the loss of their 
brother, Hylas, who had perished while hunting. 

With the constellation of the Bear, which is to be seen in 
the sky all the year round, is connected the story of Kallisto, 
the playmate of Artemis. She was beloved by Zeus, and 
after she had borne him Arkas she was placed in the sky as 
the Bear, to be safe from the vengeance of Artemis. 

The ancient Greeks did not know the great mass of con- 
stellations which fill the sky and whose names are familiar to 

1 Franz Studniczka, " Kyrene," ch. vi. 



II.] 



HEKA TE 73 



.]• maps of the heavens date from the time of Alexander 

the Great, when the learned men of Alexandria began to 

study the astronomical notions of the Egyptians, and of the 

Asiatic peoples. 

5. Hkkatr 1 is in some legends the daughter of Zeus and 

. r or Phcraia. Other traditions make the Titan 

j her father, and Aster ia, the sister of Leto, her 

She has a close connection with Artemis, who is 

, sometimes called Artemis- Hekate, and as she toe is a 

of night and darkness, is often placed in the retinue 

)f Pluto and Persephone. Streets and gates were sacred to 

kate. She was supposed to be seen at cross-roads, where 

at night gloomy ghosts, apparitions and horrid shades, 

: m she was queen, held their revels. The famous 

- , Kirke and Medeia, were called her handmaidens ; 

all the hidden forces of Nature were under her control ; she 

resided over Life, Birth, and Death, and received high 

ir in Olympos as in the underworld. Popular belief 

long preserved this gloomy, mysterious side of her nature. 

Ihkate-worship was often combined with that of other 

, .^uch as Demeter, Apollo and Artemis. In Aigina and 

in A-ia Minor she had a temple of her own ; in many towns 

the gateways were sacred to her, and little shrines in her 

our were erected in the streets. Her ritual was per- 

night by torchlight, she herself was represented 

as holding one or two torches, black lambs and dogs were 

A to her at the cross-roads, and the dog, the underworld 

inimal, was sacred to her. Later art represented Hekate as 

a triple goddess, and the famous sculptor, Alkamenes, set up 

such a statue on the Acropolis of Athens. (Fig. 15.) 



' Oesterreichische Mittheilungen," Jahrgang iv. Heft 2 (for Hekate). 
. E. Harrison, " Mythology and Monuments," Div. D, Sects, xv. 
and xocii. 



74 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



6. The name of Mithras introduces us to a new period. 
The cultus of this divinity, who was originally a Persian 
Sun-god, became general in the last years of the Roman 
Empire. It was brought to Germany by the Roman legions, 
and enjoyed great popularity, as is proved by the numerous 
sanctuaries of Mith*as discovered north of the Alps and in 
the Rhine country. 




Fig. 15. Hekate {Capitol, Rome). 

The Roman name of this god is SoL Later Roman 
emperors commanded their subjects to worship them as 
children of the Sun, and as visible embodiments of the 
power and splendour of the empire. Hence the wide area 
of sun-worship. When Paganism was passing away, the 
ritual of Mithras was the last refuge of those who clung to 
the old gods and would have nothing to do with Christianity. 



II.] 



MITHRAS 



75 



His mysteries were celebrated all over the Roman world, and 
wherever Roman armies have been, we find representations 
of the god as a youth in Asiatic garments, with a Phrygian 
cap on his head. 

A statue in the Vatican shows us Mithras victorious, just 
plunging a knife into the throat of a dying bull. (Fig. 16.) 




Fig. 16. Mithras ( Vatican; Rome) . 



Originally Mithras was worshipped in subterranean caverns, 
of which some have been found. The god is represented 
surrounded by animals of all kinds, and attended by two 
youths in Asiatic attire, carrying each a torch, one raised and 
one inverted. Worshippers were initiated into the mysteries 
of Mithras by many strange rites which professed to teach 



76 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

sacred doctrine on the origin of the Universe and the fate of 
man after death. These rites survived to Christian times, and 
were the subject of great opposition from Christian teachers. 

6. AlOLOS (^Eolus) AND THE WlNDS. 1 

Aiolos was king of the winds, and lived on a high, steep 
island, which later Greeks tried to identify with one of the 
Lipari islands near Sicily. Although Earth and Sea had 
often to suffer from the storms which he raised, he appears 
from time to time as the hospitable friend of seamen. 

When Odysseus had lived for a whole month in the palace 
of Aiolos, he took with him on his departure a sack contain- 
ing the winds. His companions opened the sack, let loose 
the adverse winds, and thus forfeited the favour of the gods. 
Aiolos was the son of King Hippotes. He had six sons, whom 
had married to his six daughters, and they lived an easy, 
jovial life together in the enjoyment of feasting and song. 
Under the hollow rocks of the island was the dungeon of the 
winds, whom Aiolos alone could control, and whom he would 
set free one at a time, as the Olympian gods required. 

Other legends represent the winds as independent divine 
beings, living in separate homes, and obeying only the com- 
mands of Zeus and Poseidon. 

Notos, Zephyr os and Euros were gentle and beneficent 
winds, who brought fresh life to the fields. These three, 
with their brother, rough Boreas, have already been spoken 
of as sons of Eos and Astraios. The destructive whirlwinds 
and the parching scirocco from the south were called the off- 
spring of Typhon. 

In very early times only four chief winds were known, and 
they lived, as we have seen, in mountain caves and rocky 

1 J. E. Harrison, " Myths of the Odyssey in Art and Literature," 
ch. ii. (the Laestrygones). 



n.] AOILOS AND ASKLEPIOS 77 

islands. They were uproarious fellows, always ready for 
mischief, and Boreas was the wildest and most lawless of 
them all. He carried off Oreithyia to his northern fortress, 
and from this marriage sprang the winged heroes Kalais 
and Zctos, companions of the Argonauts. 

The winds were chiefly worshipped as gods of navigation. 
Sacrifices were made to them when a ship left or entered a 
port. Special sanctuaries were built for them, for example, 
"The Tower of the Winds " at Athens, on which are still to 
be seen sculptures representing eight winds. The Athenians 
paid peculiar honours to Boreas because he had shattered the 
Persian fleet off the promontory of Mount Athos, and a 
sanctuary was dedicated to him on the promontory. 

(c) Gods of Healing. 

I. Asklepios 1 (Aesculapius). We have seen that Apollo 
exercised the healing craft, but this function belonged more 
specially to his son, Asklepios. The mother of Asklepios 
was A'oroms, daughter of a Thessalian prince. She was slain 
by the arrows of Artemis before she could bring forth her 
child, but Apollo saved his son, took him to Mount Pelion, 
and gave him to the famous Centaur physician, Cheiron, to 
rear. Cheiron taught the child to hunt, and instructed him 
diligently in medicine till Asklepios soon became a more 
skilful leech than his master, and could work marvellous 
cures on those at the point of death. He enjoyed perfect 
health and vigour, was never weary of pursuing game 
through the forests, and delighted in clear springs, fresh air 
and brilliant sunshine. Asklepios was present at many a 
us hunt, and legend says that he was among the 
comrades of Meleagros, who killed the boar of Kalydon. 

1 J. E. Harrison, " Mythology and Monuments," Div. C, Sect. xiii. 



78 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

Asklepios saved so many men from death that Plouton, 
finding the number of his shadow-subjects decreased, made 
complaint to Zeus. Zeus was enraged to learn that a mere 
mortal had dared to resist the decrees of fate, and he struck 
Asklepios with his thunderbolt. Apollo took the death of 
his son so much to heart that Zeus was offended, and banished 
him from Olympos for a time. Asklepios was worshipped 
as a god in many places after his death, the festival of the 
Asklepiaia was held in his honour, and temples were built 
to him. The most famous of these was at Epidauros in the 
Peloponnesos ; the sick from all parts of Greece made 
pilgrimages to this shrine, where the god revealed to them 
in dreams the meai .s of recovery. The worship of Asklepios 
continued till later times. In 290 B.C., when a plague was 
raging in Rome, ten ambassadors were sent to learn the will 
of the Oracle. As they entered the temple, a snake, Askle- 
pios' sacred animal, crept out of the beautiful gold and ivory 
statue of the god. It followed them through the streets of 
Epidauros down to the harbour, and embarked with them 
on the ship. Joyfully they received the beast into their tent 
on the ship's deck, and sailed back to Italy. When they 
touched at Antium the snake left the ship and entered the 
sacred grove of Apollo, but soon returned, and did not leave 
them again until they had reached the Tiber, when it swam 
to an island in the river and there stayed. The plague 
ceased, and a temple was built to yEsculapius on the spot. 
In this way the cultus was introduced into Rome, which in its 
essential features reproduced that of the Greek god. Persons 
who had recovered by the help of the god used to write on 
a little tablet a short account of their symptoms and the 
medicines which they had used with good effect. These 
tablets were hung up in the temple for the profit of future 
patients and the instruction of physicians. 



II.] 



THE ROMAN AESCULAPIUS 



79 



The beautiful and fertile island Kos was of great im- 
portance in the cult of Asklepios, for there dwelt the clan 
of the Asklepiadai, and the greatest physician of antiquity, 




Fig. 17. Asklepios ( Vatican, Rome). 

Hippokrates, all of whom claimed descent from the god. 
(Figs. 17, 18.) 

In plastic art Asklepios is represented either standing, or 
seated on a throne. The temple statues of the god were 



So 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[CHAP. 



usually of gold and ivory, and bore some resemblance to those 
of Zeus. He appears as a man of full age, bearded, and of 
serious and kindly aspect, or, again, as a youth resembling 




Fig. 18. Bas-relief trom Epidauros : Asklepios {Central Museum, Athens). 



his father, Apollo. Asklepios has various attributes. The 
snake is the symbol of the underworld wisdom and mantic 
healing, the cock was offered to him by those who had 



II.] 1IYGIEIA AND TELESPHOROS 81 

recovered from any sickness, 1 the staff is his divining rod, 
and the cup is the symbol of medicine. 

Among the children of Asklepios, Hygieia is specially 
named, and he had to wife Epionc, the soothing one. He 
himself, like so many other gods, was translated to the sky 
as a constellation. 

2. Hygieia is the daughter, or sometimes the Avife of 
Askkpios. She is the goddess of fresh youth and health, 
and appears with a wreath on her head and a drinking- 
cup in her hand. Sometimes a snake is coiling round 
her arm and sipping from the cup. 

3. Telesphoros was worshipped in iVsia Minor, principally 
in Pergamon. He was the genius of convalescence, and 
guarded those who had lately recovered from a relapse 
into their former illness. Telesphoros is often represented 
with Asklepios, or between him and Hygieia, as a little 
bare-footed boy, wrapped in a mantle, with a hood over 
his head. 

(d) The Muses and Mnemosyne. 2 
The Muses were daughters of Zeus and the Titanid 
Mnemosyne. They were chiefly worshipped in the district 
of Pieria, near Olympos, a rich, well-watered country, whose 
springs were said to inspire those who drank of them. 
Hence the Muses were probably first thought of as nymphs 
of the springs. Their cult spread to Mount Helikon, in 
:ia, and to other places in Greece. There was a legend 
that Pieros, a Thracian, caused his nine daughters — to whom 
he had given the names of the Muses — to compete with them 
in song, that the mortal maidens were defeated and changed 
into singing-birds, who flew far and wide, thus making the 
names of the Muses known all over Greece. In Helikon 

1 Plato, " Phaedo" (sub fin). 
9 Oscar Bie, "Die Musen.' 

7 



82 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

there was a grove, containing the sacred springs Aganippe 
and Hippokrenc, where the worship of the Muses was carried 
on even in later times. 

The Muses were goddesses of music, song and poetry, in 
fact, of all the fine arts and noble sciences. They loved the 
summits of Helikon, Parnassus and Pindus, with their 
sacred springs, and they came to the feasts of the gods 
on Olympos, led by Apollo, when they would delight the 
Immortals with their songs of the might and victories 
of Zeus, and even of the exploits of mortal heroes on whom 
the gods looked with favour. They were present at festivals 
like the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, where they sang their 
song: 

"Beauty is ours. 

Be this our care 

To hate the foul 

And love the fair," 1 

and shared in mortal grief as at the death of Achilles. 
All poets and singers were supposed to be akin to Apollo 
and the Muses, but they punished all those who attempted 
to rival them in the art of music. Such were the 
daughters of Pieros, the Sirens, and Thamyris^ the bard. 
The minstrels of olden time began their songs by an invoca- 
tion to the Muse, a custom which has been often imitated 
by modern poets. Art collections and libraries were under 
their protection — hence the name Museum, which we still 
use. Libations were offered to the muses consisting of 
water, milk and honey. 



" What forms are these coming 
So white through the gloom? 
What garments outglistening 
The gold- flowered broom ? 



See Theosznis, xv. 




APOLLO MUSAGETES. 

(VATICAN, ROME.) 



ii.l THE MUSES 83 

What sweet-breathing presence 
Out-perfumes the thyme ? 
What voices enrapture 
The night's balmy prime? 

'Tis Apollo comes leading 
His choir the Nine — 
The leader is fairest, 
But all are divine. 
First hymn they the Father 
Of all things ; and then 
The rest of immortals, 
The action of men. 

The day in his hotness, 
The strife with the palm ; 
The night in her silence, 
The stars in their calm." ' 

Sometimes the Muses are three, daughters of Ouranos and 
Gaia, and sisters of Kronos and the Titans. 

It was only in later times that different functions were 
assigned to separate Muses, and distinctions made in the 
manner of representing them, as follows : — 

1. I\lio, the muse of history, holds a half-opened roll of 
parchment and a pen, while a chest containing other rolls is 
placed beside her. 

2. Melpomene (Fig. 19), the muse of tragedy and elegiac 
poetry, is a tall, grave figure in the flowing garment worn 
by tragic actors. Her left foot is raised on a rock, and she 
holds a tragic mask in her hand. Sometimes she holds a 
club or some other attribute of a famous hero. 

3. Thalia, the muse of comedy and Bacchic poetry, appears 
in the dress of a Bacchante, holding in one hand a shepherd's 
crook or a thyrsos, and in the other a comic mask (Fig. 20). 

4. Kalliope, the muse of heroic song, is the most dis- 
tinguished of the nine, and sometimes appears alone to repre- 

1 Matthew Arnold. 



84 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



sent all her sisters. She is represented seated, with a tablet 
and pen, or standing, crowned, with a roll of writing in her 
hand, or again, with a trumpet wreathed with laurel twigs, 
through which she proclaims the deeds of heroes. 




;R- 



11 



li'JiS 



Fig. 19. Melpomene {Vatican, Rome). 

5. Ourania, the heavenly one, is the muse of astronomy. 
A globe of the heavens, sometimes partly veiled, stands 
beside her ; in one hand she holds compasses, and with the 
Other she points to the sky. She wears a crown of stars. 



i i.J THE MUSES 85 

6. Euterpe, the giver of delight, as goddess of music plays 
the double flute. 

7. Polyhymnia is the muse of song and eloquence and 
goddess of religious poetry. She is called the inventor of 




Fig. 20. Th 



and hence is represented in a thoughtful attitude. 
Sometimes she leans on a pillar and bends slightly forward 
in an attitude of quiet attention. She is partly or com- 
pletely veiled, representing the hidden truth which legends 
present in symbolic form. 



86 THE GODS OF OL YMPOS [chap. 

8. Erato, the lovely one, sings songs of love and marriage. 
She is crowned with myrtle and roses, and plays the lyre 
with many strings, often carrying a dart, the weapon of 
Eros. 

9. Terpsichore, the joyful muse of the dance, has the lyre, 
and tambourine with little bells. Her light robe is girt up, 
and she is represented in dancing pose. 

10. Mnemosyne, the mother of the Muses, was worshipped 
in later times in conjunction with her daughters. Her atti- 
tude is calm and thoughtful, and her hands are folded in 
her raiment, thus representing symbolically the inward and 
abstracted nature of memory. 1 

(e) Mythical Minstrels. 

Since Apollo and the Muses are divinities of song and poetry 
in general, they take under their direct care those of the 
human race who are devoted to these arts. The sons and 
favourites of the Muses are many, and many, too, are the 
legends grouped about the beginnings of Greek poetry. Of 
these we may select a few. 

1. Orpheus, the oldest of the Greek singers, was said to 
be a son of Apollo and the Muse Kalliope, and to have his 
home in Thrace. Some stories say that, like Herakles and 
Thamyris, he was a pupil of Linos, a famous musician of 
antiquity ; others, that he spent his youth in Egypt, and 
there received instruction. He excelled every one in playing 
on the lyre, and sang so bewitchingly, that birds of the air, 
fish in the water, trees, rocks and wild beasts from their 
dens followed him to hear his song. 

Orpheus sang of his wife, the nymph Eurydike, who had 
been stung in the foot by a snake as she fled from the 

* See Slab in British Museum, Homer and the Muses. 



ii.] ORPHEUS 87 

pursuit of Astraios, and thus met her death. Orpheus, 
beside himself with grief, uttered a heartrending lament, 
and the nymphs of valleys and mountains joined their 
wailing to his. Moved by his mourning, the gods allowed 
him to bring his bride from the underworld. 1 Going 
down to Hades he induced Pluto and Persephone to allow 
Eurydike to follow him to the upper world, on condition 
that while he was still on his way out of the realm of shades, 
he should not look back. So great were his love and anxiety 
that he forgot the condition, he looked round to Eurydike, 
and she was forced to turn back, to be for ever lost to him. 
Orpheus returned sadly to the upper world, and wandered 
long in dreary desert places, abandoned to his grief. 

" He with his hollow lyre allays the pain 
Of love, and walking lonely on the shore, 
When morning rises or when evening falls, 
He mourns in music sweet Eurydice. 2 

At length he joined the expedition of the Argonauts. On 
the voyage he did them good service, for with his music he 
drowned the seductive strains of the Sirens, thus saving the 
mariners from death, and with spells learned in Egypt he 
lulled to sleep the dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece. 

Orpheus came to a grievous end, being slain by Bacchantes 
during a wild carousal in Thrace. 

And with his dying breath, as Hebrus rolls 
His mangled body down, ' Eurydice ' ! 
He calls, and yet again his failing voice 
' Alas, Eurydice ' ! will cry, till all 
The river banks re-echo with her name 
And weep, and mourn for lost Eurydice." a 

The Muses buried him, and his lyre was placed as a 
constellation among the stars. 

1 Paus. ix. 30. 

2 Virg., "Georg."iv. 453 sq. 



88 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

The fame of Orpheus spread all over Greece. He was 
looked on not only as a distinguished singer, but as a man 
possessing the gift of prophecy from the gods. The doctrine 
of the service and oracles of the gods, ascribed by tradition 
to Orpheus, was common to all the nations of Greece, and 
was connected with secret rites, for which a special initiation 
was required, and which developed into the Orphic mysteries. 

2. Another legendary representative of the art of song 
was Thamyris. The Greeks thought that Thamyris, like 
Homer, was blind, for it was a common idea in antiquity 
that those who ventured to come into close relations with 
the gods and to surprise the secrets of Nature, lost their eye- 
sight. The blindness of Thamyris was a punishment from 
the gods, for he and his daughters had been foolhardy and 
arrogant enough to vie with the Muses in the practice of 
their own art. 

3. Linos' 1 was a son of the Muses, in his life an inspired 
singer, mourned after his untimely death in moving dirges. 
It was Apollo who slew Linos, in anger at his rivalry, as one 
legend says, according to another by an accidental cast of 
the discus. This signifies the destructive power of the sun's 
disc, which makes all nature pine and wither in its fierce 
summer glow. In another legend the youth, like Actaion, 
is torn to pieces by his own hounds maddened by the heat 
of the dog-days. 

4. Musaios was an Attic singer. He is called a son of 
Selene, the moon goddess, and a pupil of Linos or the 
Muses, and is said to have made the Eleusinian worship of 
Demeter the chief theme of his songs. 

5. Arion is a well-known legendary figure. He was saved 
from the sea and brought ashore by a dolphin, the animal 
which loves music and is sacred to Apollo. 

1 J. G. Frazer, "The Golden Bough." 



it.] ARES 8 9 

6. Ampkion, a son of Zeus and Antiope, was inspired by 
Apollo and received a lyre from him. When he and his 
twin-brother Zethos together entered on the sovereignty of 
Thebes, they built mighty walls round the town. Zethos, 
with gigantic force, prepared great blocks of stone for the 
wall, and as soon as Amphion began to play, the stones 
fitted themselves into their places of their own accord, obey- 
ing the spell of his music. 

(9) Ares j (Mars). 

According to the Greeks, Ares was a son of Zeus and 
Hera. By some he has been thought to represent the wind, 
but this signification, if it ever belonged to him, soon fell 
into tlie background, and he appears as god of war, conflict 
and rage of battle. He is the wildest of the Olympian 
gods, finding his only pleasure in slaughter and destruction. 

In this aspect he forms a strong contrast to Pallas Athene, 
godde.-s of the ordered fray of knightly warriors, who in 
many legends appears as his opponent. In the battle of the 
giants Ares is said to have fought for Zeus, and to have been 
kept a prisoner for some time by the giants. In the Trojan 
war he helped the Trojans, especially their leader, Hector ; 
but he was wounded by Diomedes, whom Athene assisted. 
Homer says in the Iliad that he fell to the ground with a 
roar as of ten thousand warriors in the fight, and that in his 
tall he covered seven roods of land. 2 

Later legends make Aphrodite the wife of Ares, and in 
works of art they are often represented together. 

Other goddesses and mortal women bore him numerous 



(A. Voigt, " Beitrage zur Mythologie des Ares und der Athena. : 
II. D. Miiller, " Mythologie der griechischen Stamme." 
L. Preller, " Griechische Mythologie " (Ares). 
Iliad, xxi. 406. 



9 o 



THE GODS OF 0L YMPOS 



[chap. 



sons. Of these the most famous are : Meleagros, prince of 
Kalydon, and slayer of the Kalydonian boar, Kyfoios, slain 
by Herakles, whose murder Ares would have avenged on 
Herakles, had not Zeus, with his thunderbolt, separated hi? 




Fig. 21. Ares {Villa Ludovisi, Rome). 



two strong sons, Parthenopaios, one of the leaders in the 
attack of the Seven against Thebes, Oinomaos of Elis, who 
is famous for his bloody chariot-races. 

Later heroes are called sons of Ares, not in reference to 



II.] COMPANIONS OF ARES 91 



any mythical descent, but simply as an expression of their 
strength and courage. 

5 had a sister, En's (Discord), a terrific goddess, who 
ran before his chariot when he went to war. 

Early Greek art represents Ares as a bearded man in full 
panoply of arms, not specially distinguished from the 
warriors who accompany him. The later artists conceived 
him a< a young beardless man, with strong, well-knit frame, 
not armed, but wearing the helmet as a symbol of his war- 
like character. (Fig. 21.) 

The Areopagos in Athens bore his name. Because 
capital causes were decided by this Court, it was said that 
had himself been brought before it in consequence of 
a quarrel with Poseidon, and that the gods had acquitted 
him. Another story said that the Amazons, when they 
pitched their camp on this rock over against the citadel, had 
iced to Ares and given his name to the place. The 
real origin of the name is doubtful. 

In the train of Ares we find his legendary son and servant, 
Enyahbs, his faithful companions, Deimos and Phobos (Fear 
and Horror), Enyo and Erz's (Strife and Discord), goddesses 
of dreadful war that lays cities waste, and the Keres, gloomy 
Fates of the battle-field. 

The Romans gave to the worship of Mars a much more 
important place than the Greeks did to that of Ares, for they 
ed themselves genuine descendants of Marsftiter, the 
god of war. 

To the simple shepherd races of Italy in early times Mars 
i god of spring, who made the fields fruitful, the flocks 
numerous, and the tribes of man prosperous. The sparrow, 
emblem of the mysterious forest, and the ox were sacred to 
him, and so were the crafty wolf and the war-horse, who 
symbolize some of the god's later and more popular 



92 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chaI>. 

attributes. Mars shared with Jupiter the sovereignty of 
the Italian races, and was specially honoured by the war- 
like Romans as the protector of their mighty empire. The 
founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were sons of Mars, 
and being exposed after their birth they were suckled by a 
she-wolf, the god's sacred animal. 

There were many stories of help given by Mars to the 
Roman armies. In 292 B.C., when the Romans had marched 
against the Bruttii, and the consul was hesitating to give 
the signal of attack, the god, in form of a stately youth, 
went through the Roman lines and incited them to go 
forward. He placed storming-ladders against the wall, and 
was the first to scale the fortress, thus leading the army to 
victory. When the soldiers were about to award to him 
the conqueror's prize, he had vanished, and then they knew 
that it was Mars Gradivus (Mars the Leader) himself, who 
had come to the aid of his people. 

Bellona is called sometimes the wife, sometimes the sister 
of Mars. She accompanies the god with her dreadful atten- 
dants, Pavor and Pallor (Fear and Pale Horror), the demons 
of battle fright. 

Of the many spots dedicated to the worship of Mars, the 
most important is the Roman Campus Martius, a wide open 
space, where, from earliest times, the Roman youth carried 
on their exercises and games of war, and on which, as late 
as imperial times, no building was allowed. In times of 
peace the soldiers were regularly drilled there, and once a 
year, in the month of March, the populace in festal attire 
gathered round the simple altar of Mars to view the games, 
and to join the priest in his prayer for the welfare and con- 
tinuance of the state. 

After the races one horse of the victorious team was 
sacrificed to the god, and the inhabitants of the oldest 



II.] MARS 93 

• a townships fought for the head, which was supposed 
to bring luck to the possessor. The tail of the animal was 
taken to the Sanctuary of Vesta, and from the blood were 
prepared cakes to be used at the next festival. 

The spoil of the battle-field was devoted to Mars. Every 
Roman general, before marching to battle, appeared in full 
armour in his temple, touched the sacred shield and spear 
of the god, and pronounced the words, " Mars, watch over 
us." Legend said that the shield, the ancile, had fallen from 
Heaven before King Numa Pompilius when he was praying. 
He had caused eleven others exactly like it to be made, and 
had placed them all in the temple of Mars. These shields 
and the sacred spear were under the care of the Salu, or 
priests, who every year celebrated a feast of thanksgiving, 
and worshipped Mars in half-warlike, half-priestly garb, with 
processions and ancient hymns. 

In primitive times human beings, especially captive 
enemies, were sacrificed to Mars. This cruel custom was 
afterwards abolished, and the sacrifices consisted of booty 
taken in war, horses, rams and dogs, for these animals, with 
the wolf, the cock and the sparrow, were sacred to Mars. 

The numerous Italian bronze figures of Mars, often of 
very rude and imperfect workmanship, usually represent 
him in his aspect as Gradivus, stepping eagerly forward, in 
full armour and with lifted spear. 

10. Aphrodite x (Venus). 

Aphrodite was goddess of love in its fullest meaning. 
The very earliest myths of Eastern peoples contain some 
symbolic representation of the fertility of nature. The 

I Turn pel, " Ares und Aphrodite." 
J. E. Harrison, " Mythology and Monuments" (Aphrodite). 
H. W. Engel, "Kypros." 



94 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

worship of a Syrian or Phoenician goddess of love, Astarte, 
was brought by means of trade communication through 
the Mediterranean islands to Greece and Italy. Legends 
about this goddess present great variety, but the root idea 
of a divine productive power in nature is common to all. 

The cultus of Aphrodite, in its passage from Asia to Greece, 
naturally first gamed a foothold in the islands of the ^gean 
Sea. Cyprus, an island which carried on a flourishing trade 
between Phoenicians and Greeks, was very early the home 
of an Aphrodite cultus. There and in Kythera she was 
worshipped as Ouram'a, the heavenly one. 

A later and very favourite legend tells of the birth of the 
goddess from the sea foam ; another, which never gained 
such popularity, made Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus and 
Dione, an ancient goddess of Dodona. 

As Ourania she was represented armed, not only in the 
ancient sanctuary of the island Kythera, but in Sparta, 
Corinth and other places. In her temple of Knidos, in 
Karia, stood her most famous statue, by Praxiteles. 

The Aphrodite from the sea naturally soon became the 
goddess who brings good luck to sailors, and as such she was 
worshipped by the trading inhabitants of coast towns and har- 
bours. Gardens and groves owed their fresh green to her tend- 
ing, and all flowers their bloom, especially roses and myrtle"; 
the beasts of the field under her care paired and brought 
forth their young, and they would follow her in troops as 
she walked through the forests ; the bond of marriage and 
family affection were under her protection, and as Pande- 
mos she was guardian of the state. 

Although in later times the graceful, soft and luxurious 
aspects of Aphrodite become more prominent, she was 
known in early times as a goddess of war. 1 The old 

1 Thraemer, "Pergamos," 



ii.] APHRODITE 95 

images of Aphrodite Ourania are distinguished by armour, 
and Homer tells us how effectually she protected the Tro- 
jans, especially Anchises and her favourite son Aineias. 

Innumerable legends group themselves round the charm- 
ing figure of Aphrodite, and tell how she loved gods 
and mortal men. To symbolize the inexplicable magic of 
her influence, it was said that the goddess possessed a girdle 
of spells, which she would sometimes lend to mortals. In 
Lemnos Hephaistos was honoured as her husband ; in 
Thebes, Ares. Anchises, the Trojan king's son, was be- 
loved by her. One of the most beautiful stories is that of 
her favourite, the blooming shepherd boy Adonis, who was 
killed in the chase by a wild boar. The goddess was in- 
consolable in her grief, and would not leave the dead body 
of the youth. At last, in pity, the gods agreed that her 
beloved should pass the summer half of the year with her 
in the upper world, the other half in the underworld with 
Persephone. Thus in the form of Adonis is represented 
the growth and bloom of spring and summer, and in his 
death the harvest and winter sleep of vegetation. Through- 
out Asia Minor and in Cyprus this natural alternation was 
celebrated in the summer feast of Adonis. 1 A statue of 
the youth was exhibited, all the ritual of a solemn burial was 
performed, and the gloomy hymns of lamentation ended in 
the joyful cry, " Adonis lives and has risen again," thus 
representing the expected return of spring. 2 Legend says 
that Kinyras, the Cyprian, was the first priest of Aphro- 
dite, and the first poet who sang the mournful Adonis songs. 

In Asiatic legends we hear of other favourites and foster- 
children of Aphrodite. There were some of these whom all 
her gifts and favours could not save from death. Paris for 



« J. G. Frazer, "The Golden Bough," vol. 
9 Theocritus, Id. xv. 



96 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

example, was fated to perish in Troy with his father's race, 
although the goddess had given him the fairest wife in 
Greece. But Anchises and ^Eneas enjoyed the protection 
of Aphrodite till they landed in Italy. 

Many legends represent Aphrodite as the goddess of love. 
She inspired Medeia with such passion that she left her 
father and native land to follow Jason. She took unhappy 
lovers under her special protection, but punished severely 
those who dared to withstand her will. Hippolytos x knew 
this to his cost when he was ruined by the passion of his 
step-mother, Phaidra, and Narkissos, when he spurned the 
affection of the nymph Echo. 

By a natural transition Aphrodite becomes goddess of 
marriage and the wedded state. Her temple and oracle at 
Paphos were well known, and thousands came together to 
celebrate her festival there. 

Aphrodite Anadyomene (sea-born) was supposed to grant 
a calm sea and a prosperous voyage, and hence was worshipped 
by fishermen and sailors. On the island of Aigina a double 
festival was customary : first a sacrifice to Poseidon, then a 
wild, joyous carnival in honour of Aphrodite. 

The ram, 2 the goat and the hare were specially sacred to 
Aphrodite as emblems of fertility ; the dolphin, the swan 
and the shell are her sea emblems ; in the East and in 
Greece doves were sacred to her, and a team of them 
drew her car ; in Elis her emblem was a tortoise. The 
goddess loved myrtle, roses and other beautiful flowers, 
apples and all sweet fruits. 

In early times the goddess was represented, in Paphos and 
other places, by a shapeless stone or rude sculptures. Her 

1 Euripides, Hippolytos. Introductory Essay to the same by Wilamowitz- 

Mollendorff. 1891. 
3 J. E. II., "Mythology and Mon.," Div. B,Sect. xi. and Div.C, Sect. xiii. 



II.] 



APHRODITE IN ART 



9" 



type gradually developed into the form of a beautiful stately 
woman. Sometimes she is in armour, and in later times, 
under the influence of Praxiteles and Apelles, she is repre- 
sented nude, in various attitudes. As the goddess who 




grants victory she is a majestic and powerful figure, usually 
with one foot supported. As goddess of beauty she is 
young and graceful. (Fig. 22.) 

In Italy the month of April, when flowers and plants 
spring afresh, or as the myth would say, when Adonis 
8 



93 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

returns to the upper world, was dedicated to Venus, the 
old goddess of spring, Under whose protection stood the 
prosperity of citizen and state. In later times the Aphrodite 
of the East and of Greece usurped the worship of the original 
Italian Venus, whose statue was said to have been brought 
to Rome by her son yEneas. Venus was worshipped on 
the Aventine hill as Murcia, goddess of vegetable fer- 
tility, peacemaker between the Romans and Sabines, and 
founder of civic concord. She was called Cloacina, and 
as death-goddess she was named Libitina. As Venus 
Victrix she resembled Victoria, was worshipped by war- 
riors and had a sanctuary on the Capitol. As Venus 
Genetrix she was, first, mother of ^Eneas and founder of 
the Julian Imperial race, and in a larger sense ancestress 
and protectress of the Roman people. In later times 
Venus, like Aphrodite, became the goddess of love and 
reckless enjoyment, and as such was very widely wor- 
shipped. 

ii. Attendants of Aphrodite. 

(a) Bros l (Amor) and the Erotes. 

Eros appears among the Greeks in two very different 
forms. He is in some Theogonies, that cosmic force who 
brought harmony and order into the confused mass of an- 
tagonistic elements which existed in the beginning and 
formed Chaos. He united kindred substances, and separated 
those which were of different kinds. In the age of the 
famous philosophers, when men were trying to penetrate 
deeper into the origin of the universe, there was much talk 
of this Eros. 

The Eros who was the object of popular belief as a real god 

1 Furtwaengler, " Eros in der Vasenmalerei." 



II.] ATTENDANTS OF APHRODITE 99 

was a son of Ares and Aphrodite, or, according to a different 
in, the divinity who, with Peitho and the other gods, 
received the goddess of love as she rose from the sea. This 
scene was represented by Pheidias on the base of the throne 
of the Olympian Zeus. 

The Eros of still later times was the youngest and fairest 
of the gods, whose omnipotence could subdue both gods and 
men. 

Although the human aspect of Eros was the more pro- 
minent in popular belief and in art, his worship as the 
creative force of Nature continued to flourish, as in Thespiai, 
for instance, where his most ancient emblem was a rough 
stone. 1 Eros was worshipped as Victor at Sparta, Thebes, 
At he n- and on several islands, and as personification of the 
•t fatherland by Spartans and Cretans, who sacrificed 
to him before joining battle. In Athens there was an altar 
to him, and also to Antcros (love in return). The festival 
of the Ekutiijia, held at Thespiai, in Boetia, was a favourite 
one, and survived into later times. The gymnasia, where 
the Hellenic youth practised knightly and soldierly exercises, 
were specially sacred to Eros as the protector of good fellow- 
ship and friendship among youths and men. 

The famous sculptor, Praxiteles, represented Eros as a 
graceful youth verging on manhood. Later than this Eros 
is a roguish mischievous boy, sparing neither gods nor men 
with his unerring darts. His power over the Immortals is 
shown bv their attributes which he holds in his hands. 
He may be seen, for instance, with the gigantic club of 
Herakles. Although Eros was not one of the high Olym- 
pian gods, he was a pleasing figure to the Greeks in art 
and poetry as a personification of the omnipotence and 
eternal youth of Love. Philosophers and tragedians had 

1 Pans. ix. 27. 



THE GODS OF OL YMPOS 



[CHAP- 



much to say of Eros. Poets who sang of love and pleasure, 
and the blessed Golden Age, were called Erotic. 

Eros, as a boy, is winged. (Fig. 23.) Sometimes he holds 




Fig. 23. Eros [Capitol, Rome). 

the bow and quiver, or has a burning torch in his hand, to 
show the fiery power of his inspiration. In this aspect he 
inspires youths who march to battle. Sometimes he plays 
the lyre, riding on an eagle, a lion or a dolphin, or driving 



II.] EROS AND PSYCHE loi 

stags or boars, for love can tame the wildest beasts. One of 
the loveliest stories of later antiquity is the myth of the 
union of Eros and Psyche. Psyche is the soul, and was 
thought of as a delicate butterfly or a slender girl with but- 
terfly wings. Hence in representations of the creation of 
man, Athene places a butterfly on the head of the inanimate 
body formed by Prometheus ; or Hermes, as leader of souls, 
brings to Prometheus a Psyche with butterfly wings. 1 

Psyche was the daughter of a prince on the island of 
Crete, or, in another version, of the Sun-god, and was 
dowered by the gods with such exquisite beauty that she 
was admired above Aphrodite, and thus aroused the jealousy 
of the goddess, and of her own sisters, who were less beau- 
tiful than herself. Aphrodite commanded Eros to punish 
Psyche by inspiring her with an infatuation for some despic- 
able creature, and Eros — 

" Had still no thought but to do all her will, 
Nor cared to think if it were good or ill : 
So, beautiful and pitiless, he went, 
And toward him still the blossomed fruit trees leant, 
And after him the wind crept murmuring, 
And on the boughs the birds forgot to sing." 2 

But when he saw Psyche he fell in love with her on the 
spot. In the meantime her father had consulted the oracle 
of Apollo, and had been directed to clothe his daughter in 
mourning garments, and lead her to a rock, where she 
should become the bride of a winged dragon. With grief 
and lamentation he obeyed this cruel command. As soon 

Maxime Collignon, " Essai sur les Monuments Grecs et Romains 

relatifs au Mythe de Psyche." 
Andrew Lang, " Custom and Myth." (Chapter on Cupid, Psyche, 

and the Sun-frog). 
"The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche," done into English by W. 

Adlington, edited by Andrew Lang. 
W. Morris, " Earthly Paradise." 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



as Psyche was alone upon the rock she was hidden by a 
cloud, lifted by gentle breezes, and wafted to a beautiful 
castle. Here every night, as soon as it was dark, she was 
visited by Eros, but she could not see him, nor did she know 




% 




Fig. 24. Eros and Psyche {Capitol, Rome). 



his name, and she was strictly warned not to attempt to find 
out who her lover was. But when Psyche's sisters came to 
her to see her wonderful castle, they persuaded her to take 
the first opportunity of satisfying her curiosity. So Psyche 



II.] HIM EROS AND POTHOS 103 

took a lamp, stole softly to the side of Eros, and bent over 
him. When she saw that the sleeping youth was Aphro- 
dite's son she was so startled that she let a drop of hot oil 
fall on his naked shoulder. The god awoke, bitterly rebuked 
her curiosity, and left the castle. Psyche was inconsolable, 
and wandered over the whole world to find her lover. On 
her way she came to the palace of Aphrodite, who detained 
her, imposed slave's labour on her, and at last put her 
courage to the severest test by commanding her to go to the 
realm of Shades and fetch a casket of ointment from Perse- 
phone. All this time Psyche was supported by the secret 
presence of Eros, else she must have succumbed to her hard 
trials. When she had fetched the casket and opened it, 
stupefying fumes arose from it, and she sank fainting on the 
ground. Now Eros could contain himself no longer, he 
hastened to her, took her in his arms, and lovingly called 
her back to life. The anger of Aphrodite was appeased, 
and the lovers were wedded, with great rejoicings, in pre- 
sence of all the Olympian gods. (Fig. 24.) 

It is not difficult to attach an allegorical meaning to this 
beautiful tale. It is the story of human life. The soul who 
has once transgressed the divine command must suffer 
sorrow and misfortune, until, chastened and purified, she is 
ready to enter on the enjoyment of pure and real happiness. 

Poets and artists multiplied the figure of Eros, and con- 
ceived of a number of little Love-gods, or Genii, in the form 
of pretty children. They are found in the train of Aphro- 
dite or of Dionysos, are called Erotes and may constantly 
be seen in ancient pictures and sculptures. They have been 
a favourite subject, too, with later artists, even down to 
modern times. 

(b) Anteros, Himeros, and Pothos. 

Anteros means love in return. Himeros and Pothos ex- 



104 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

press longing and desire. At first they are only qualities of 
Eros, afterwards they are separate persons, and accompany 
him. 

(c) Peitho (Suarfa). 

Peitho is one of the female attendants of Aphrodite and 
personifies the power of persuasion. The Greeks call her a 
daughter of Aphrodite, and at Athens and Sikyon the 
two goddesses were worshipped together. It is said that 
Theseus introduced her worship into Athens after he had 
persuaded the different tribes of Attica to found a common 
city. 

(d) Hymen, or Hymenaios {Hymenaeus). 

Hymen was the god of marriage, joyous wedding feasts 
and mournful songs. The accounts of his origin differ ; he 
is called the son of Apollo or of Kalliope, of Dionysos or of 
Aphrodite. He is really a personification of the bridal song, 
at first honoured as a mortal, then raised to divine honours. 
The fable says that Hymen was a poor boy of such delicate 
beauty that he looked like a girl. He loved a charming 
Athenian maiden, but had no hope of being allowed to wed 
her, so in order to be near her he disguised himself as a girl, 
and took part in the feast of Demeter at Eleusis. In the 
midst of the festival a gang of pirates suddenly rushed out of 
an ambush and carried off Hymen and the maidens to their 
ship. They landed with their prey on a desert island, and 
there they became drunk and sank into a deep sleep. 
Hymen seized the opportunity, and with the help of the 
maidens took away the robbers' weapons and slew them. 
He then sailed back to Athens alone, and promised to the 
Athenian parents, who were in deep grief for their loss, 
to bring back their daughters safe and sound if they would 
give him to wife the maiden he loved. This they solemnly 



II.] HYMEN AND THE CHA RITES 105 

promised. Hymen took with him a small force of men, 
returned to the desert island, brought the maidens safely 
back to Athens, and was married to the maid he loved. As 
fortunate hero of the sea he was called Thalassios, and he 
was so happy in his marriage that his name was invoked at 
weddings, and that he himself finally became a god as 
founder and protector of wedlock. At wedding feasts 
flowers and wreaths were offered to him, while the solemn 
hymeneal chant was sung. 

Hymen was a playmate of Eros in the train of Aphrodite. 
His seat was with the Muses on Mount Helikon, in Bceotia. 
One legend says that after singing the wedding hymn for 
Dionysos and Ariadne, or Althaia, he lost his voice and 
expired. He is always the emblem of youthful charm, of 
pleasure and song. 

(e) Charites {Gratiae). 1 

The Charites were worshipped all over Hellas from very 
early times as goddesses of grace, charm, beauty and merri- 
ment, and as givers of prosperity. Their cultus was localized 
at Sparta, Athens, Crete and Orchomenos. Games had 
been held in their honour in Crete ever since the reign of 
the legendary King Minos. At Orchomenos was their 
oldest sanctuary, and there they were represented by three 
rough stones, said to have fallen from heaven. The myth 
of the Charites probably arose from the natural freshness and 
beauty of the world in spring, and their function, as tenders 
and fosterers of this early growth, was gradually extended 
till it included everything graceful and beautiful. The poets, 
especially Pindar, developed this idea further, and it is to 
them we owe the notions of moral fitness and beauty, mirth, 

1 " Mythology and Monuments, Athens," J. E. H., Div. D, Sect. xv. 



io6 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

prosperity and happiness, which we associate with the name 
of the Graces. 

These divinities were represented as maidens, pure, young 
and charming, dancing and playing, crowned with roses, the 
flower of Aphrodite, and other blossoms of spring. They 
were the constant attendants of Aphrodite, always ready to 
do her service ; they lived with the Muses near Mount 
Olympos, and would often appear before the gods at their 
feasts to charm them by their graceful dancing or sweet 
singing. 

The Charites are sometimes called daughters of Zeus and 
the Okeanid Eurynome, sometimes of Dionysos and Aphro- 
dite. Their number is variously given. The names of 
Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia probably come from Orcho- 
menos ; in Sparta there were only two, Kleta (Shining 
one,) and Phaenna (Light) ; in Athens also there were two, 
Anxo and Hegemone. In the Iliad, however, a whole bevy 
of Charites, older and younger, is honoured, and of these 
Pasithea was the youngest and most beautiful. Another 
story made Aglaia, the youngest, the bride of Hephaistos, 
probably meaning thereby that the works of art of this god 
were perfect in beauty. Poetry owes its adornment to the 
Charites, Athene cannot dispense with their aid in her 
serious studies, nor Hermes in his eloquence. All this shows 
how highly the Greeks valued grace and charm, and how 
they made its attainment one of the aims of life. 

The Charites were worshipped in their sanctuaries some- 
times alone, sometimes with other divinities, as Aphrodite, 
Apollo and the Muses. The Charitesia were celebrated 
every year in their honour, with competitions in music and 
dancing. At banquets the first cup of wine was dedicated 
to them. 

In early art the Charites are completely draped, later 



II.] HEPHAISTOS X07 

they are slightly draped or nude, usually linked as for the 
dance. Roses, myrtle, ears of corn and fruit show their 
function as givers of increase. A lyre or other musical 
instrument marks their connection with festal enjoyments. 

12. Hephaistos (Vulcanus). 

Hephaistos, according to the Greeks, was a son of Zeus 
and Hera. He is a personification of the inner volcanic fire 
of the earth. 

Although the poets speak of quarrels between mother 
and son, yet on the whole Hephaistos is on good terms with 
Hera. Zeus, on the other hand, had a grudge against Hepha- 
istos because of his frequent opposition in his mother's 
behalf, and is said once to have taken him by the foot and 
thrown him out of Olympos. Hephaistos fell a whole day 
long, as the thunderbolt falls from the sky, and at sunset 
found himself, with scarcely any breath left in his body, on 
the island of Lemnos. The barbarous folk called Sintians 
received him and tended him kindly. 1 

There is another legend to account for his lameness, which 
says that Hera was ashamed of Hephaistos when he came 
into the world because he was so small and feeble, like the 
spark from which the fire begins, and that she cast him out 
of Olympos. He fell into the sea, where Thetis and 
Eurynome received him ; he passed a long time in the 
dwellings of the sea-gods, and made many works of art. 

With all his strong arms and powerful frame Hephaistos 
was lame. For this physical failing he was often made the 
butt of Olympian jests, but his skill in forging and fashion- 
ing metal brought him high honour, for the lordly houses of 
Olympos owed their adornments to his craft. One of the 

1 Homer, Iliad, i. 590. 



108 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

things which he made while he abode with Thetis was an 
ingenious golden throne with invisible bonds. This he sent 
to Hera, in order to take revenge for his expulsion, and 
when the goddess sat on the throne the bonds fastened her 
down, so that not even the power of Zeus could loose her. 

Dionysos alone was able to appease the wrath of 
Hephaistos against his mother and to lead him back to 
Olympos, and through his intercession Hera was freed from 
her chair. 1 

The Greek conception of Hephaistos as the god of the 
forge-fire, which melts metals and prepares them for use, 
naturally became associated with volcanic districts. Hence 
Lemnos, with its volcano Mosychlos, active till later times, 
was the place where he fell, and Lower Italy was the district 
where he and his journeyman smiths, the gigantic Kyklopes, 2 
produced their great works in metal. In later times 
Hephaistos became the protecting divinity of all metal- 
workers in Athens, who celebrated a great yearly festival, 
the Chalkeia, in his honour. The chief feature of this 
festival was a torch race of youths. Whoever first reached 
the goal with his torch alight received the prize. 

The ancients usually ascribed all good metal-work to 
Hephaistos, the weapons of Achilles, for instance. Almost 
every god had received presents from him, and specially 
famous was his brazen house on Olympos, where the mighty 
artificer had built himself a smithy. He had fashioned two 
maidens of gold to wait on him, and had given them speech 
and motion ; for the hall of the Olympian gods he had 
contrived ingenious tripods, which moved of themselves ; 
the thunderbolts of Zeus, the trident of Poseidon and the 
invisible cloud-cap of Pluton, were all works of Hephaistos. 

1 " Mythology and Monuments, Athens," J. E. H., Div. C, Sect. xii. 
a Theokritos, Idyll xi. 



II.] WORSHIP OF HEPHA1ST0S 109 

Other contrivances of the god, besides the throne of Hera, 
show his mischief and cunning — for example, the invisible 
net which caught Ares and Aphrodite, and which only he 
himself could loose. His workmen and companions, the 
Kyklopes? the Dactyls, and the Telchines in Lemnos, were 
at once famous artists and mischievous Kobolds, thus corres- 
ponding to the strange contradictory nature of subterranean 
fire, which fosters vegetation and destroys it. 

As the Graces must have something to do with all works 
of art, the Greeks gave Aglaia, one of the Charites, to 
Hephaistos to wife. The later legend of the marriage of 
Hephaistos with Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, may perhaps 
be referred to the same idea. 

The worship of Hephaistos was carried on in South 
Campania, Sicily, near ^Etna and in Attika, but most of all in 
Lemnos. Here he was honoured every year with strange 
rites. For nine days there was no fire on the island, and it 
was only after a sacred trireme had brought the consecrated 
flame from Delos that fires could again be lighted in houses 
and workshops. At the foot of Moschylos stood the ancient 
temple of the god, on the legendary spot where Prometheus 
had stolen the heavenly fire. On Mount yEtna Hephaistos 
had a temple guarded by dogs, who had the gift of knowing 
the pious from the profane. 

The Apaturia was an Athenian festival celebrated to 
Hephaistos and Athene in conjunction. It consisted of sacri- 
fices on the hearth, with blazing torches, festal garments 
and hymns in praise of the giver of fire. This was the feast 
chiefly of smiths, potters and workers in brass. Attic legend 
said that Athene was beloved by Hephaistos, that she rejected 
his offers, but took Erichthonios, his son, born of Ge, under 
her special protection. (Fig. 25.) 

1 " Myths of the Odyssey" (Cyclops), J. E. H. 



THE GODS OF OLYMPOS 



[chap. 



Hephaistos appears in art as a bearded man of ripe age, 
with a grave furrowed countenance, scantily clothed, work- 
ing the forge in company with his comrades. He is often 
distinguished by a Greek workman's cap, but his lameness 
is not usually indicated. On vase paintings the scene of the 
return of Hephaistos to Olympos is often depicted. He rides 
upon a mule, draped, wearing a wreath and holding hammer 
and tongs in his hand, and is led by Dionysos. 

The Roman legend said that Romulus was the first to 




Fig. 25. Cylix : Birth of Erichthonios {Berlin Museum). 



build a temple to Vulcan, and to institute the Vulcanalia. 
On the 23rd of August, in the sanctuary on the Campus 
Martius, a sacrifice of fish was offered, to ward off ill-luck 
from the use of fire and light during the darker half of the 
year. The evening lamp was on this day lighted for the 
first time, and announced the beginning of winter's work. 
As god of smiths and artificers, Vulcan was also called 
Mnlciber, softener of metals, and like Hephaistos, he was 
supposed to have a workshop in the volcanic region. 



n.l HESJIA in 

13. Hestia 1 (Vesta). 

Uestia, sister of Zeus and Hera, and daughter of Kronos 
and Rhea, was honoured by Greeks and Romans as goddess 
of the domestic hearth -fire. She was the real protectress of 
the family ; in each house the hearth was her sanctuary and 
the whole household assembled every day round it for worship. 
(Fig. 26.) A sanctuary of Hestia, with sacred fire burning 
on it, was found in every council house, and when colonists 
started for a distant settlement they always took with them 
some of this sacred fire, that they might secure the favour 
of the goddess in their new home, and still remain mem- 
bers of their mother state. Every undertaking was begun 
by a libation to Hestia on her altar. If the fire went out 
it must not be rekindled from any common source, but 
only from the fire of another sanctuary. 

Hestia was not only the centre of the individual city, but 
the protecting divinity of state confederations. In Delphi, 
at the " navel of the earth," where the oracle of Apollo, as 
the supreme authority in matters of religion, was frequented 
by all Greek races, she received peculiar honour, and in 
the council house at Olympia her eternal fire burned. 

Hestia rejected all wooers, even Apollo and Poseidon. 
She remained a virgin and was regarded as the goddess of 
chastity. 

Although the worship of Hestia flourished all over 
Greece, no separate temples were dedicated to her. She 
had a sanctuary in every house and council hall ; at every 
burnt sacrifice to other gods libations of water, oil and 
wine were offered, and a prayer addressed to her. Her own 
special offerings were young corn, the first of the autumn 

1 August Preuner, " Hestia-Vesta." 

J. G. Frazer, " The Prytaneum," in the Journal of Philology, vol. 14, 
1885, p. 145. 



THE GODS OF OL YMPOS 



[chap. 



fruits and young heifers. Her priestesses must remain 
virgins. 

In Rome there was a temple to Vesta, supposed to have 
been built by Numa Pompiliiis. It was round in shape, 




P 



Fig. 26. Hestia [Rome). 

and on the altar in the middle a fire burned, which was 
never extinguished ; the temple was open during the day 
and closed at night ; the Palladium, a small wooden image 
of Minerva, which was said to have fallen from heaven 



II.] VESTA 113 

into the citadel of Troy, to have been brought thence 
to Greece, and afterwards to Rome, was kept in strict 
seclusion inside, for in popular belief the continuance 
of the state depended on the preservation of the image. 
Vesta had six priestesses in Rome, called Vestal virgins, 
whose duty it was to keep up the sacred temple flame and 
to offer prayers and sacrifices for the welfare of the state. 
They were appointed to this sacred service by the high 
priest, Pontifex Maximus. Their clothing was a white robe, 
a veil and the priestly fillet. Between the age of six and 
ten they entered on their office, and vowed to remain chaste 
servants of the goddess for thirty years. When this time 
was expired they might lay down their office and marry, 
but those who did so were popularly supposed to incur the 
displeasure of the goddess to whom they were devoted. 
Vestal virgins were greatly reverenced, and enjoyed many 
privileges. Their person was inviolable, they were not sub- 
ject to paternal rule, and they might freely dispose of their 
property. When they went in solemn procession through 
the streets of Rome the lictors carried before them the 
fasces, bundles of rods containing axes, the symbol of 
authority, a distinction which they alone shared with the 
consuls, and if on such an occasion a condemned criminal 
met the procession, he might claim a pardon. 

This great reverence to the person of the Vestals had its 
counterpart in the severity with which their transgressions 
were punished. If a Vestal allowed the sacred fire on the 
altar to go out — that fire which might only be re-lighted by 
holding a burning-glass to the pure rays of the sun — the high 
priest scourged her with rods in a dark chamber. For any 
offence against chastity she was buried alive on the " Field 
of Crime." She was placed in an underground chamber 
with a couch, a burning lamp and a little bread and water, 
9 



IU THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap 

the roof was closed and covered with earth, and she was left 
to die. Her seducer was publicly scourged to death. When 
this happened the whole town was stirred by horror at the 
sight of the deeply-veiled litter in which the Vestal was 
carried to her doom. It was a day of public mourning, 
prayer and expiatory sacrifice to appease the offended 
goddess. 

The institution of the Vestal virgins was ascribed, like so 
many other developments of religion, to King Numa 
Pompilius. Their number was at first two, afterwards 
four, and was increased by Servius Tullius to six. They 
were always chosen from the noblest families of the city. 

Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were, 
according to the legend, sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia, 
a Vestal. 

Every year on the ist of March the sacred fire on the 
hearth of the goddess was renewed ; from the 9th to the 
15th of June the temple was cleansed and purified, and on 
the same days the feast of the Vestalia was celebrated. 
Women made pilgrimages to the temple, and brought 
offerings of food in clay vessels ; millers and bakers, because 
they cook food on the hearth, had a special share in the 
festival, and even the asses who turned the millstones were 
not forgotten in the distribution of provender. 

14. Domestic and Family Divinities of Rome. 

(a) The Penates? 

These divinities are peculiar to Roman mythology. They 
are the spirits who protect human dwellings, and were 
worshipped with Vesta as gods of the family and of the state. 

x (L. Pieller, " Romische Mythologie." 
(J. G. Frazer, " Prytaneum," etc. 



II.] PENATES AND LARES 115 

They take their name from the perms, the daily food which 
was prepared by fire in their sanctuary, the hearth which 
they shared with Vesta. The Penates belonged to the family, 
and took the welfare and success of the household under their 
special care. They were supposed to be present at every 
meal, and food was handed to them on silver plates. In 
the Atrium, or hall, where the every-day life of the family 
went on, the little images of the Penates were to be seen. 
In old times these images were rudely-fashioned blocks of 
wood, but later they were replaced by costly statues. 

The public Penates, protectors of the Commonwealth, 
had a temple of their own in later times. In the round 
temple of Vesta there were two Penates — images of great 
sanctity, representing two seated youths with spears. They 
perished in the fire in the reign of Nero. 

(b) The Lares. 

The Lares were, like the Penates, protecting divinities of 
the home, but differed from them in character. They were 
the disembodied spirits of the dead who hovered over their 
posterity to bless and guard them, and who lent their aid in 
birth, death, marriage, travel and all vicissitudes of family 
life — hence they were worshipped in the Atrium, where 
their images were set up, and on every festal occasion 
offerings were brought to them. The Lares extended their 
beneficent care to fields and vineyards, streets and paths— 
hence they were greeted with gifts of wreaths and flowers. 

The Lares publici, or compitales, received the state 
worship which Servius Tullius, himself called the son of 
a Lar, was said to have instituted. Little shrines were 
erected to them in different parts of the town, and their 
festival, the Compitalia, which fell soon after the Satur- 
nalia, was celebrated in town and country with dancing and 



n6 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. 

other popular amusements. The Lares of the home were 
worshipped specially on the Kalends — i.e., the first of each 
month. Rich or distinguished persons had in their house 
a Lararium or domestic chapel, where the images of the 
Lares were preserved, and where the head of the house 
offered prayer and sacrifices. 

(c) The Manes. 

These were the spirits of the departed, purified and re- 
fined by expiatory funeral rites, and living on in peace after 
death in the depths of the earth. They were worshipped at 
their tombs. 

(d) Larvae and Lemures. 

Unlike the Lares and Manes, who were the spirits of the 
good departed, the Larvae and Lemures were ghosts of 
those who had either died a criminal's death, or been 
buried without due atoning rites. These unquiet spirits 
wandered homelessly over the earth, haunting their former 
dwellings and kindred. 

In consecrated earth 

And on the holy hearth, 

The Lares and Lemures moan with midnight-plaint. 1 

They were malicious tormentors, who could not even leave 
the dead in peace. In order to ward off their evil influence 
three nights in the month of May were set apart for ritual 
purifications, performed by each father of a family. These 
Lemuria were said to have been instituted by Romulus to 
quiet the ghost of his brother Remus. It was commonly 
believed that ghosts, appearing in the form of skeletons, 
would affect with madness those whom they visited. 

1 Milton, " Hymn on the Nativity." 



II.] JANUS \\i 

15. Janus. 

Janus was unknown to the Greeks, but was one of the 
most important and widely-worshipped gods of Rome. 
To him was ascribed the origin of all things, the succession 
of years, the alternation of the seasons, the vicissitudes of 
fortune, the continuance of the human race and its progress 
in agriculture, art and religion. 

In the popular legend Janus was an old King of Latium in 
the Golden Age, who ruled when gods and men walked 
the earth together, who founded temples and sacred 
rites and taught men many useful arts. As the god of 
beginnings the first days of each month, and particularly 
the first days in the year, were sacred to him — hence the 
first month was called January. As the keeper of the gate 
of Heaven, whence the sun issues, he was invoked at the 
beginning of each new day. 

In everything that the Romans undertook, they paid 
great attention to prognostications and omens. Hence the 
beginning of any enterprize was very important, and was 
always considered to depend on the good will and approval 
of Janus, even after Jupiter had signified his consent. If 
the beginning was good a good issue might be expected. 
Therefore at all sacrifices a libation was first poured out to 
Janus, and in all prayers he was named first, even before 
Jupiter. 

Janus was specially invoked when the Roman people 
marched to battle. The Consul went in festal attire to the 
temple of the god, and on retiring from it, left the gates 
open, as a sign that the god had taken the field with his 
own people. When a peace was concluded solemn sacrifices 
were offered to him, and the doors of the temple were 
closed. 

In civic life nothing was begun without Janus ; the 



n8 THE GODS OF OLYMPOS [chap. n . 

merchant and the sailor started on their voyage under his 
protection, and the husbandman as he scattered the seed 
prayed to him for a good harvest. 

During the first seven hundred years after the building of 
Rome, the city was so constantly involved in war that the 
gates of the temple of Janus were closed only three times, in 
the reign of Numa Pompilius, after the first Punic war, and 
in the time of Augustus. 

Numa Pompilius introduced the public worship of Janus, 
and the city soon experienced the worth of his aid. When 
the Sabines penetrated into the newly-built town, a mighty 
spring of boiling water sprang suddenly up from under 
the gate sacred to Janus, and destined a host of them. 
A temple was built to the god on the very spot where this 
happened. In this legend Janus is the god of springs and 
streams. 

Gates, doors, passages, and the traffic of streets and 
market-places being sacred to Janus, the two-faced images 
of the god, as he is represented on Roman coins, were often 
to be found in the arches of gates. His most famous and 
ancient temple, whose foundation was ascribed to Numa, 
stood in the Forum. Here he was worshipped on the first 
day of the year, at the beginning of each month and on 
the morning of every day. In later times, when it became 
the custom for new state-officials to enter on office on the 
ist of January, that festival of Janus gained greatly in 
brilliancy. Every one gave presents of sweetmeats, cakes 
and fruit, while the houses were decked with wreaths and 
laurel twigs. 



CHAPTER III. 
SEA AND RIVER CODS. 

BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 

Immerwahr My then und Kulte Arkadiens. 

Overbeck, Johannes ... Gallerie heroischer Bildwerke der alten Kunst. 
„ „ Atlas. 

I. Poseidon (Neptune). 

When the World was divided and Heaven fell to the share 
of Zeus, Poseidon received dominion of the sea and all the 
waters of the earth. He was the most powerful god after 
Zeus, who held him in high honour and seldom interfered 
with his rule. The sovereignty of the sea was assigned to 
Poseidon after he had shown his prowess in the war with 
the giants, and had overwhelmed Polybotes under a rocky 
promontory torn from an island. At the same time he 
became lord of the winds and ruler of earthquakes. 

The Greeks knew the sea well, both in calm and storm, 
and every tribe worshipped Poseidon as a mighty god. In 
popular belief Poseidon was the power who shook the 
mountains asunder, opened valleys and brought springs out 
of the earth ; it was he who drew vapours from the sea, 
and sent them down again to the earth in the form of dew 
and rain to make fountains, streams and lakes, which in 
their turn feed the ocean. 



120 SEA AND RIVER GODS [chap. 

As god of fertilizing moisture Poseidon was closely con- 
nected with Demeter, Dionysos and the nymphs, and 
exercised great influence on the life of man. Because he 
can split steep rocks and beetling cliffs with his trident, heap 
mountains one upon another and bring forth new islands 
out of the sea, he appears in one aspect as a great architect. 
There is a legend that Poseidon was deprived for a whole 
year of the sovereignty of the sea because he had revoked 
against Zeus ; during this time he was forced to help 
Apollo to build the walls of Troy for King Laomedon. 
Other stories say that the two gods built the walls of their 
own accord, in order to put King Laomedon to the test, and 
that Laomedon then refused to give Poseidon^the promised 
reward. The god in his anger devastated the land with a 
flood and sent a frightful sea-monster, to whom Laomedon's 
daughter Hesione must be delivered up as an expiatory 
offering. Herakles freed the maiden and slew the monster. 
But Poseidon's anger still raged against Troy, he took the 
side of the Greeks in the war, and would have brought great 
disaster on the city, if Zeus had not checked his fury and 
brought him to submission. When Troy fell, the walls, 
built by gods, could not be destroyed by men, so Poseidon 
overthrew them with his trident. The Greeks told of other 
monsters sent from the bottom of the sea to lay waste the 
land as a punishment to the inhabitants. Such were the 
sea-beast to which Andromeda was to be sacrificed in 
Ethiopia, and which Perseus slew, the Bull of Marathon 
killed by Theseus and the Cretan bull which Herakles 
overcame. 

Poseidon contended with several other divinities for the 
possession of different parts of Greece, and usually had the 
worst of the contest, but the most important strife he entered 
on was that with Athene for the land of Attica. The 




A SEA-GOD. 

(VATICAN, ROME.) 



in.] AMPHITRITE 



gods in council had decreed that the land, with the citadel, 
was to belong to that divinity who could show the highest 
symbol of power in the form of a gift to man. Posei- 
don struck the rock of the Acropolis with his trident. 
and a salt-spring gushed out where no water had been 
known to be before. From the same barren rock Athene 
made the first olive tree grow, and as the latter gift was the 
more useful, she became the sovereign of the land. 

In the dry district of Argos, near Lerna, Poseidon struck 
the earth with his trident and brought out three springs. 
This he did to please the water-nymph Amymone, daughter 
of Danaos, who was sent to fetch water, and could not find 
a spring, but he soon sent the springs into the earth again, 
because Inachos assigned the land to Hera. 

Poseidon was honoured as the creator of the horse, which 
to the Greeks in later days became a symbol of the billows 
rolling on the shore. He rode through his realm in a car 
drawn by prancing steeds, while Tritons and other sea- 
creatures followed in his train. 

Amphitrite, daughter of Okeanos and Tethys, was Posei- 
don's lawful consort, but he had other wives, who bore him 
strong, heroic sons. A local Arkadian legend made Poseidon 
(in horse's shape,) and Demeter the parents of the wonderful 
swift-winged horse Arion. According to the Boeotian tale, 
one of the Erinyes was the mother of Arion. Pegasos, 
another winged horse, emblem of poetic inspiration, brought 
up by the nymphs of the springs, was the offspring of 
Poseidon and Medusa. The god would often present to one 
of his favourites a yoke of wondrous winged horses, distin- 
guished by great swiftness and possessing reason and speech ; 
the team of Achilles was a present of the god to Peleus, 
and Pelops overcame Oinomaos in the race by means of the 
horses which Poseidon had given him. The breeding and 



122 



SEA AND RIVER GODS 



[CKrt.1 1 . 



rearing of horses, carried on to a large extent by the richer 
inhabitants of Greece, was under his special patronage, and 
knightly equestrian contests formed an important part of 
his festivals. 

Poseidon was imagined as dwelling in a beautiful shining 
palace in the depths of the sea, and exercising from thence his 
rule over sea, islands and coast-districts, and even over 
inland regions and mountain ranges. Homer sings of the 




JlJJffffi 



A 



Fig. 27. Poseidon and Amphitrite [Munich). 

god's course over the sea : " He let harness to the car his 
bronze-hooved horses, and seized the well-wrought lash of 
gold and mounted his chariot, and forth he drove across the 
waves. And the sea-beasts frolicked beneath him on all 
sides out of the deeps, for well they knew their lord, and 
with gladness the sea stood asunder, and swiftly they sped, 
and the axle of bronze was not wetted beneath." x (Fig. 27.) 



Iliad, xiii. 20. 



in.] ISTHMIAN GAMES 123 

The worship of Poseidon was zealously carried on, with 
various rites, all over Greece, but especially in coast-towns 
and harbours, on islands and promontories. His sanctuaries 
were to be found at Aigai and Helike in Achaia, and the 
early confederation of states on the island of Kalaureia was 
founded under his auspices, and soon grew into an important 
marine emporium. He was held in high reverence in 
Athens, the seafaring Ionian races saw in him their most 
important protecting divinity, and his temple on the pro- 
montory of Mycale was the religious centre for that part of 
the race which inhabited the coast of Asia Minor. But by 
far the most famous sanctuary was the temple on the Isthmus 
of Corinth, standing on a hill in an ancient pine-wood, and 
surrounded by sanctuaries of other divinities. Here in his 
honour, according to the decree of Theseus, were celebrated 
twice in each Olympiad, in the season of autumn, the brilliant 
Isthmian Games. They were as widely famous as the 
Olympian Games, and their purpose was the same — viz., to 
keep alive among the separate Greek nationalities the feeling 
of Hellenic unity. The Corinthians were responsible for all 
matters connected with the celebration, but the Athenians 
had certain special privileges. This was the chief festival 
of Poseidon as sea-god and patron of horse-rearing. The 
victor in the races was rewarded with a wreath of pine. In 
the sacred grove which surrounded the temple the Greeks 
piously preserved the Argonauts' ship Argo, to be a monu- 
ment of the first great sea expedition, and after the defeat of 
the Persians by the Athenian fleet a colossal brazen statue 
of Poseidon was set up in his sanctuary. Horses and oxen 
were sacrificed alive to the god by being plunged into the 
sea, and any one who had escaped from a shipwreck hung up 
a votive gift in his temple. 

Another joyous festival was celebrated every year on the 



124 SEA AND RIVER GODS [chap. 

island of Tenos, and attended by great crowds of people 
from the adjacent islands. In Thessaly Poseidon was 
worshipped as creator of the fruitful valley-land. The 
legend was that in ancient times the whole valley had been 
shut in by mountains and covered with water, and that 
Poseidon had broken the mountain range asunder with 
his trident and allowed the water to flow down the vale of 
Tempe to the sea. He was worshipped in well-watered 
Boeotia, prosperous in agriculture and cattle-rearing, 
in the rough hilly country of Arkadia, with rapid rivers 
and rich meadow valleys, where corn was grown, and horses 
and cattle fed, and where the sea-god was said to have 
loved Demeter, goddess of the fruitful field — and in many 
other places. 

The same divinity was called Neptunus among the 
Romans. Being shepherds and husbandmen, they had 
little connection with the sea, and seem to have regarded 
Neptunus chiefly as the patron of horse-rearing. Every 
year they celebrated a festival in his honour in his only 
temple in Rome, which stood on the Campus Martius, near 
the Circus Maximus. They encamped in huts and indulged 
in banquets, games and carousals. In later times, when 
the Romans had become a marine people through their 
wars with the Carthaginians, every admiral who embarked 
with a fleet first brought an offering to Neptune and 
plunged it into the sea. The wife of Neptune was Sa/acz'a, 
goddess of the salt water ; Triton was their son. 

2. Amphitrite. 

Amphitrite was the wife of Poseidon. Some call her 
daughter of Okeanos and Tethys, others a Nereid whom 
the sea-god carried away as she was dancing with her sisters 
on the island of Naxos. One story says that she fled from 



TRITON 125 



the god's pursuit to the deepest depths of the sea, at the 
root of Mount Atlas, and that her hiding-place was revealed 
by Poseidon's sharp-eyed attendant, the dolphin. As sea- 
goddess, Amphitrite rules the waves and billows, but the 
wonderful creatures of the sea are her special charge. In 
art Amphitrite appears in a chariot with Poseidon, or 
riding on a dolphin. She has flowing clinging hair, some- 
times adorned with lobster-claws, and is attended by Tritons 
and sea-monsters. 

3. Attendants of Poseidon and Amphitrite. 
Besides the supreme god Poseidon and his royal wife the 
sea was peopled, in the imagination of the Greeks, by a vast 
number of lesser divinities. In a country like Greece, Avhose 
coast is so much indented by creeks and bays, it was natural 
that the sea should play a large part in popular legend, that 
storms and calms alike should be referred to the action of 
some divinity, and especially that the mysterious unfathom- 
able sea-bottom should be thought of as the home of a 
motley crowd of shapes, some fair and human and others 
loathly and terrible. 

(a) Triton and the Tritons. 1 
These are the chief followers of Poseidon and Amphitrite. 
Triton was regarded as their son, or perhaps son of Okeanos 
and Tethys. He heralded Poseidon's approach by blowing 
on a twisted shell, and could raise the sea with a stormy 
blast or quiet it with soothing melodies. He would draw 
Poseidon's car through the waves, and assemble the other 
sea-gods with the sound of his shell. 

In later legend there were many Tritons, all repetitions 
of the original one and fulfilling the same functions. They 

1 Jakob Escher, " Triton und Seine Bekampfung." 



126 SEA AND RIVER GODS [chap. 

are bold, lawless fellows, who often chase the sea-nymphs. 
According to some legends, Triton came to land in the 
form of a huge sea-monster, and only gods like Dionysos, 
and strong heroes like Herakles, could master him. It was 
said that even the giants, when they fought against Zeus, 
were terrified by the tones of his shell-trumpet. 

Triton and the Tritons are represented with a human 
body to the waist, covered with little scales, ending in the 
tail of a dolphin or sea-snake. They are harnessed to the 
car of Poseidon, and hold conch-shells in their hands. 

(b) Proteus. 1 

Like the Tritons, Proteus is a servant of Poseidon. He 
used to feed the herds of sea-cows and seals, and drive them 
every day to the island of Pharos, so that they might sun 
themselves on the beach. Here the cunning " old man of 
the sea " was caught by Menelaos, who wished to force him 
to exercise his prophetic power. Proteus changed himself 
into a lion, a boar, a panther and other beasts, trying thus 
to escape from the hero, but Menelaos held him fast, and 
forced him to tell him all he knew. 

(c) Glaukos Pontios. 

This divinity, one of the less-important sea-gods, was of 
a kindly and good-humoured disposition, a favourite of 
boatmen and fishers, because he had once been a man like 
themselves. He was a beautiful youth of Anthedon, on the 
coast of Boeotia, who, being inspired by eating of a magic 
herb, leaped into the sea, was kindly received by the gods in 
its depths and became a prophetic divinity, the protector of 
ships. 

1 Homer, Od. iv. 382. 



N ERE US 



127 



(d) Ncrcus and the Nereids. 

Far in the west, at the bottom of the sea, in untroubled 

calm, removed from all noise and business of the world, 

lived the venerable kind-hearted old sea-god Nereus, and 

Doris, his wife. Like other sea-divinities, he had the gift of 




Fig. 28. Nereid {Naples). 

prophecy, and could change his shape as he would. He was 
surrounded by a band of blooming daughters, the Nereids, 
or sea-nymphs, known to all the Greeks as friendly and 
helpful divinities. On moonlight nights these fair and 
graceful maidens would sport with the Tritons on the calm 



128 SEA AND RIVER CODS [chap. 

surface of the sea, or swim up the rivers to dance and sing 
on their banks. Sometimes they would sit on the sunny 
shore to dry their wet hair, but they always fled human 
company. The names of the Nereids, to the number of 
fifty or a hundred, recall the glitter on the surface when the 
sea is calm, the play of the tireless ripples, the gentle plash 
of the waves against the shore — in short, all the softer and 
more attractive aspects of the ocean. (Fig. 28.) 

The most distinguished Nereid, after Amphitrite, is 
Thetis, for Zeus himself would have wed her. But when 
it was foretold that Thetis' son should be greater than his 
father, Zeus gave her 'as consort to the mortal Peleus. 
After she had borne him Achilles, the renowned hero, she 
went back to her sisters in the sea, and became once more 
the leader of their choric dances, The Nereid Galatez'a, 1 
beloved by the Cyclops Polyphcmos, was specially worshipped 
by the Greeks in Lower Italy. 

(e) Ino Leucothea and Melikertes Palaimon* 

lno Lenkothea was a goddess worshipped on the isthmus 
of Corinth, in conjunction with Poseidon, chiefly by sea- 
faring men. When Odysseus was in danger on the sea 
and about to sink, she threw him her veil as a support, 
lno was said to have been a daughter of Kadmos, and the 
wife of Aihamas. She adopted the babe Dionysos out of 
pity, when her sister Semele was dead, and thus drew down 
upon herself and her husband the anger of Hera. Athamas, 
being struck with madness, slew his eldest son by dashing 
him against a rock, and pursued Ino, who fled with her 
youngest child Melikertes. When she saw there was no 

1 Theokritos, Idyll xi. 

s Otto Crusius, " Beitr'age zur griechischen Mythologie und Religions- 
geschichte." ^886. Thomas Schule Programme, No. 498. 






in.] THE SIRENS 



129 



other way of escape, she rushed to a high cliff near the 
Isthmus, and sprang into the sea, where she was received 
by the Nereids and became immortal like them. She and 
her son Melikertes were thought of as gods who rescued 
men from the dangers of storm, and were called Leukothea 
and Palaimon. 

(f) Seirenes {Sirens). 1 

The Sirens are usually known as daughters of Phorkys 
and KetOy the destructive sea-goddess, but some legends call 
them children of the River Acheloos and a Muse. At first 
they were nymphs, and beautiful like their sisters, but 
because they did not come to the help of Persephone when 
she was carried off by Hades, Demeter changed them into 
beings with bird-bodies and human faces. The usual story 
is that the Sirens dwelt on the steep rocky islets between 
Italy and Sicily, that they enticed with their magic song 
those who sailed by, and slew them when they landed. 
Round their dwelling lay a mass of human bones, whitening 
in the sun. In the Homeric poems the Sirens are of no 
definite number ; later three are named, Parthenope, Ligeia 
and Leukosia. They sang so beautifully that they could 
venture to compete with the Muses, but they were defeated, 
and the Muses, to punish them, plucked out their finest 
wing-feathers, and adorned themselves with them. 

It was fated that the Sirens should exercise their deadly 
power over men until a mariner hear but remain untouched 
by their song. The Argonauts sailed past, being so en- 
entranced by the matchless music of Orpheus, that they paid 

,Otto Crusius, "Die Epiphanie der Sirenen," in Philologus, Band 
1., Heft i., Gottingen, 1891. 
" J Jane E. Harrison," Myths of the Odyssey," ch. v. (The Myth of 
the Sirens). 
\Ibid., " Mythology and Monuments," Div. E, Sect. xxiv. 
10 



130 SEA AND RIVER GODS [chap. 

no heed to the Sirens. When Odysseus sailed by he 
stopped the ears of his sailors with wax, and made them 
bind him to the mast, so that he could hear the song but 
could not follow its enticement. Then the prophecy was 
fulfilled, and the Sirens, in despair, threw themselves into 
the sea and were changed into rocks. 

The Sirens are sometimes supposed to personify sunken 
shoals, over which the water is smooth and inviting, but 
which destroy ships that go aground on them. The Sirens' 
enchanting song ma}- mean the gentle musical rush of the 
waves, or may be simply a symbolic expression of charm. 

(g) Okeanos and the Okeanides. 

Okeanos, an ancient sea-god, son of Ouranos and Gai'a, 
was the parent of a great family of water divinities called 
Okeanides. Tethys was their mother. Okeanos was said to 
have been more righteous than his brothers, the Titans, and 
to have taken no part in the conspiracy against Ouranos. 
Therefore he kept his realm when the other Titans were 
banished to Tartaros, and lived far away in the West, 
untouched by everything that went on in the world. Hera 
grew up under the care of Okeanos and his wife, and she 
took refuge with them while the Titans were warring against 
Heaven. The race of Okeanos spread to rivers, brooks and 
springs, and grew so numerous that the god was said to 
have three thousand sons. The great river, which sur- 
rounded the earth in a circle, and from which all the waters 
and streams of the earth sprang, was called by his name. 
The gods of rivers were sons, nymphs of smaller streams and 
fountains daughters of Okeanos. They were everywhere 
worshipped as gods of prosperity and fertility, and lived 
under springs or in river-beds. They, too, like the regular 
sea-gods, possessed the gift of shape-shifting. Acheloos, the 



irr.J 



OKEANOS 














s*! : 



*Mf 






132 SEA A AD RIVER GODS [chap. hi. 

largest river in Greece, was most revered ; the Alpheios, in 
Peloponnesus, was held in high honour. It is well known 
what a great effect on the imagination of the ancients was 
exercised by the Nile and other rivers bounding the known 
world. Fig. 29 shows the river-god as a bearded man 
leaning on a sphinx and surrounded by merry children 
at play. 

It is plain that Okeanos and his tribe are specially gods of 
the fresh water and its fertilizing influence on agriculture, 
while Nereus, with his daughters, are gods of the salt un- 
harvested sea, sometimes kindly helping the merchant and 
the sailor, sometimes rousing the sea to furious storms. 



CHAPTER IV. 
EARTH-GODS. 



BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 

Euripides... ... Bacchse. 

Homeric Hymn to Demeter. 
Mueller, H. D. ... Mythologie der griechischen Stamme. 

Crusius, Otto ... Beitrage zur griechischen Mythologie und Religion? 

geschichte. 
Frazer, J. G. ... The Golden Bough. 

Mannhardt, W. ... Mythologische Forschungen (Demeter). 

,, ... Waldund Feldkulte. 

i. Gaia (Ge, Gcea). 

Gaia is the kind earth-mother, who fosters every living 
thing, and to whom everything on the earth owes its being. 
The gods dwell in her realm, the violent giants and Titans 
are her sons, and men are her offspring, who return again 
after death to her dark bosom. Thus Gaia appears as an 
underworld goddess by the side of Hades and Persephone. 
In her care for the offspring of the fields and of the human 
race her functions are mingled with those of other gods, 
especially Demeter and Themis. Hence it often happened 
that her cult gave way to the worship of these more popular 
goddesses. 

Gaia, like Rhea, was worshipped as mother of the gods, 
and especially of Zeus. As she belongs to, and is inseparable 



134 



EARTH-GODS 



[chap. 



from the earth, she is often represented with the upper half 

of her body free, and the lower part embedded in the earth. 

Demeter was a daughter of Kronos and Rhea, and sister 





Fig. 30. Demeter {Vatican, Rome). 

2. Demeter (Ceres). 1 

of Zeus, Poseidon, and Plouton. (Fig. 30.) She bore to 
Zeus a daughter, Persephone, with whom she is often 



Homeric Hymn to Demeter. 



iv.] DEMETER 135 

associated in cultus. The ancients thought of Demeter as 
an earth-goddess in the sense of the nurturing mother who 
brings forth countless fruits for human food. 

The plant which is the most indispensable in the life of 
man is corn. Now, as this was supposed to be the peculiar 
gift of Demeter, the goddess was called the inventor of 
agriculture and founder of the civic community. Until her 
coming men, it was thought, had wandered about in a savage 
condition, subsisting on acorns and roots, but she instructed 
them in more civilized habits. They became attached to 
the country of their birth, learned the meaning of property, 
and grew accustomed to the conception of law ; they passed 
in fact from the nomadic to the agricultural stage. Her 
name, Thesmophoros, probably derived from the rite of the 
Thesmophoria, was by later theorists interpreted to mean 
" Law-giver." x 

The most significant legend connected with the cult of 
Demeter is that of the rape of Persephone, her daughter, by 
Plouton, god of the underworld. Sicily was the favourite 
scene of the rape. 

" That fair field 

Of Enna, where Proserpine gathering flowers, 

Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis 

Was gathered, which cost Ceres all that pain 

To seek her through the world." 2 

Persephone was plucking flowers with her companions, 
Artemis, Athene, Aphrodite and the nymphs, when the 
dark god Aides rose from a cleft in the earth in his chariot 
drawn by black horses, and, seizing her, plunged with her 
below the earth. 

The sorrowing Demeter wandered long to seek her child, 

1 J. G. Frazer, Article, " Thesmophoria," in Encyclopedia Britannica. 

2 Milton, " Paradise Lost," iv. 268. 



136 EARTH-GODS [chap. 

continuing the search every night by torchlight. Hekate 
could give her no news of her daughter, and she sought in 
vain nine days and nine nights. At last Helios, from whom 
nothing is hidden, told her that Plouton had taken Perse- 
phone to be his bride and queen of the realm of shadows, 
and that all had happened according to the will of Zeus. In 
her grief and agony Demeter withdrew from men. She 
gave no more gifts to the land, and Avhen Zeus saw that men 
and beasts were dying of hunger, he was forced to give way. 
Hermes was sent to the underworld to fetch Persephone, but 
as she had already eaten of a pomegranate which Plouton 
gave her, she was for ever bound to the kingdom of the 
dead. She passed the winter months with her husband in 
the dark underworld, but in spring, when the first tiny 
shoots appear and the first flowers deck the meadow, Perse- 
phone comes to her rejoicing mother, and together they 
watch the young blade, ripen the ear and see the sheaves 
reaped and the corn threshed. 

" Once more the reaper, in the gleam of dawn 
Will see me, by the landmark far away- 
Blessing his field — a-seated in the dusk 
Of even, by the lonely threshing-floor, 
Rejoicing in the harvest and the grange." 1 

When winter comes, and Nature goes to rest, Persephone 
must descend and remain in Hades until the spring comes 
round again. 

While Demeter was wandering about to seek her vanished 
daughter, she came to Eleusis, which lies in Attica on the 
Gulf of Salamis. She was weary and sat down by a spring. 
The daughters of King Keleos, coming to draw water, 
greeted the stranger kindly and brought her to their father's 
house, where she remained as nurse of the young Demo- 

1 A. Tennyson, 



IV.] 



TRIPTOLEMOS 



137 



phon (or Triptolemos). She loved the child, and determined 
to make him immortal by means of fire. 

" His nurse, the mighty Mother, willed it so, 

Warm in her breast, by day 
He slumber'd, and ambrosia balm'd the child ; 

Bat all night long amid the flames he lay, 
Upon the hearth, and played with them, and smiled." * 




Fig. 31. Heiron Vase : Starting of Triptolemos {British Museum), 

It happened that the mother of Demophon came in just 
as Demeter was holding him in the flame of the fire ; she 
screamed in terror, and thus frustrated the intention of the 
goddess. Demeter afterwards gave her foster-child ears of 
corn, and sent him out into the world on a winged car 
drawn by dragons, that he might teach all men how to sow 
and cultivate corn. (Fig. 31.) 

1 M. Arnold. 



138 EARTH-GODS [chap. 

The fact that prosperity and wealth depend on agriculture 
is symbolized in another tale, viz., the marriage of Demeter 
with Jasion of Crete, a famous tiller of the soil. Their son 
was Plouton, the god of wealth. 

Demeter was worshipped on the island of Crete, which 
very early became the seat of a flourishing civilization, and 
also all over Greece, wherever agriculture was carried on, 
especially at Eleusis. The union of Demeter and Zeus may 
perhaps symbolize the fertilizing influence of the sky, with its 
sunshine and showers, upon the earth. Every year, in autumn, 
harvest festivals, called Haloa or Thalysia, were celebrated 
with sacrifices, banquets and merry-making, in honour of the 
goddess. During five days of October, in the village, of 
Halimus, near Athens, as well as in other parts of Greece, 
the famous festival of the Thesmophoria j was held. The 
celebration was strictly secret, and only married women 
were allowed to take part in it. Demeter was worshipped 
on these occasions as mother of Kore, and prayers were 
offered to her by mortal women that they might, like her- 
self, be blessed with offspring. The legend of the rape of 
Persephone and the grief of the goddess at the loss of her 
child have probably nothing to do with the Thesmophoria. 
They form, however, the chief subject of the Eleusinia, a 
festival which the goddess herself is said to have founded 
when she rested at Eleusis during her wanderings. The 
Eumolpidai, high priests of Eleusis, traced their origin from 
Eumolpos, and to them the charge of the festival was 
entrusted. 

There were two kinds of Eleusinia, 2 the lesser, in spring, 
and the greater, during nine days of September. On the 

, (August Mommsen, " Heortologie." 

I J. G. Fraser, " Thesmophoria," in Encyclopedia Britannica. 
• Ramsay, " Mysteries," in Encyclopedia Britannica. 



IV.] ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES 139 

night of the 20th of September the festival began with a 
torchlight procession to Eleusis, accompanied by music. 
The chief days were occupied by a dramatic representation 
of the sorrowful story of Demeter, and a pilgrimage to the 
places with which the events of the myth were associated, 
such as the "stone of grief" on which Demeter sat in dumb 
anguish, the spot where she first took food after her long 
fast, and the place where she was re-united to her daughter. 
Initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries was granted 
exclusively to free-born Greeks, never to slaves or criminals, 
and only in part to strangers. Long probation was necessary, 
the purpose of which was to inculcate the higher meaning 
of the legend of Kore, and the worthy observance of the 
sacred rites. These rites were held in secret, and we do not 
know the details of the celebration, but we gather that they 
made a profound impression on the minds of the partici- 
pants, and that their symbolism gave comfort for the 
present life, and some suggestion of a renewed existence 
after death. 

" Blessed is he among men who is given these rites to know, 
But the uninitiate man, the man without, must go 
To no such happy lot, when dead in the world below." * 

The Romans worshipped Ceres as goddess of fertility 
and harvest. She was an old Italian goddess, but her cultus 
was very early fused with that of the Greek Demeter. The 
Cerealia were celebrated in spring with solemn offerings, 
processions and banquets, and were immediately followed by 
the similar festival to Tellus, the earth, as fruit-giver, whose 
functions and meaning were almost exactly identical with 
those of Ceres. The priest of Ceres, called Flamen 
CerealiSy belonged to the plebeian Flamines, showing that 
Ceres remained a goddess peculiarly of the lower classes. 

1 Homeric Hymn to Demeter. 



140 



EARTH-GODS 



[chap. 



Art represents Demeter as a majestic matron, clothed in 
a long garment ; poppies and ears of corn are wreathed 
round her head, or held as attributes in her hand ; on 
sarcophagi sometimes she carries a sickle or a torch. 




: . - 



il % 



Fig. 32. Demeter, Persephone, and a youth {Athens). 

Frequently she is seated on a car drawn by dragons, and 
is pursuing Hades as he carries away her child. Her face 
expresses dignity and benevolence, with a touch of melan- 
choly, for her sorrow is renewed every autumn, when her 



DIONYSOS 



141 



daughter must go below 
husband. (Fig. 32.) 



to the gloomy palace of her 



3. Dionysos or Bakchos (Bacchus). " 
Dionysos is the symbol of the irresistible power of 
growth in nature, showing itself especially in spring. It is 
he who makes the trees and fruits thrive, and he is said 
to have taught the Greeks how to cultivate the vine and 
prepare wine from grapes. 




Fig. 33. Dionysos on the Monument of Lysikrates {Athe/is). 



Thebes was generally considered to be the home of 
Dionysos. Semele, 2 daughter of the king of Thebes, 
was beloved by Zeus, and thus roused the jealous anger of 
Hera. The goddess approached Semele in disguise, and 
persuaded her to ask Zeus to visit her in all his heavenly 
majesty as Thunderer. Zeus tried in vain to induce Semele 

1 W. Roscher, "Ausfuhrliches Lexikon " (Dionysos). 

I Homeric Hymn to Dionysos. 
P. Kretschmer, " Semele und Dionysos," p. 17, in Aits der Anornia., 
Karl Robert dargebracht, Berlin 1890. 



142 EARTH-GODS [chap. 

to retract her request, but as he had sworn an unalterable 
oath by the Styx, he was forced to fulfil her wish. Semele 
perished by the flame of the thunderbolt, but Zeus rescued 
his child Dionysos from the flames and gave him into the 
charge of Hermes, who brought him to the nymphs of 
Nysa. There the boy grew up, shielded by the nymphs 
from the anger of Hera, and taught by Seilenos, son of Pan, 
how to control the wild beasts of the forest. (Fig. 33.) 
When Dionysos was grown, he invented the culture of the 
vine, and, with his following of nymphs and satyrs, carried 
its fruits all over the world. He began his wanderings in 
the mountains and forests of his native land, and having 
made a triumphal progress through all Asia, he returned to 
Greece. His power was irresistible. To those who received 
him hospitably he gave the care-dispelling, grief-assuaging 
gift of wine, filling them with mirth and pleasure, but he 
punished his enemies with torments and a cruel death. 
The legend of the Thracian Lykourgos is one of many on 
this subject. This gloomy and savage king would have 
nothing to do with the worship of Dionysos, and even 
wished to drive him away by force. The Mainads fled in 
fear, and the god himself was obliged to take refuge in 
the sea with Thetis. Lykourgos was punished with blind- 
ness, or, as some say, he was struck mad, and slew himself 
and his son. J 

Pentheus, too, the cruel king of Thebes, had to experience 
the revenge of Dionysos. When the Theban women; 
Agave, mother of Pentheus, at their head, were inspired 
by Dionysos, and rushed from the city at night, to hold 
their revels in the woods, Pentheus followed them and 
spied their doings from the branches of a high pine tree. 
Agave, in her frenzy, thought he was a wild beast, and 

1 Homer, Iliad vi. 130. 



ARIADNE 143 



brought him to a grievous end. He was dragged from the 
tree and torn asunder by the Mainads. 

Another well-known legend relates the capture of 
Dionysos by Tyrrhenian pirates. They bound him, but 
the fetters fell off, while springing vine and ivy tendrils 
wreathed themselves round mast and sails. The ship 
stood still, the pirates were seized with terror and madness 
and threw themselves into the sea, where they were at 
once transformed into dolphins. 1 

On the island of Naxos Theseus had left the sleeping 
Ariadne, daughter of Minos. (Fig. 34.) While she wept 
and gazed after his vanishing sail, Dionysos, in his glowing 
youthful beauty, appeared surrounded by all his train. 
Ariadne became the bride of Dionysos, and was received 
with him into Olympos. 

Dionysos holds a conspicuous place, not only as 
fosterer of corn and vine culture, but as protector of 
human institutions, who had taught men jurisprudence 
and other arts of peace. Dionysos had come to the aid 
of Herakles when the kingdom of Zeus was established, and 
in his own form or in that of a raging lion he played an 
important part in the defeat of the giants. 

Wherever the vine grew on Greek soil we find the 
cultus of Dionysos. The legend of his wanderings through 
Asia and many features of his ritual, point to a mixture 
of Asiatic and Greek customs. In the worship of Rhea- 
Kybele, as we have seen, fanatical excitement, a common 
feature of Eastern ritual drove her worshippers to wander 
at night, with torchlight and music, over hills and 
through forests. Similar features in the legends of 
Pentheus and Lykourgos seem to indicate that the orgi- 

, f " Mythology and Monuments," J. E. H., Div. C, Sect. xi>. 
{ Homeric Hymn. 



144 



EARTH-GODS 



[chap. 



astic revelling aspect of Dionysos was an importation 
into Greece from the East. This wild, nocturnal ritual 




was not connected with the joyous god of the vine and 
spring freshness, but with the suffering tortured Dionysos, 



iv.l THE D10NYS1A 145 

type of Nature dying in the cold of winter. Only women 
were present at these ritual practices. Parnassos in 
Boeotia, a mountain covered with snow far on into the 
spring, was the place to which women and girls from all 
parts of Greece, even from Athens, made pilgrimage. 
Wild animals were torn in pieces, and as late as the time 
of the Persian wars human sacrifices were offered. In 
his ceaseless processions Dionysos was attended by a wild, 
noisy crowd of Mainads, or Bacchantes, Satyrs, Nymphs, 
wood and river gods, while Seilenos and Pan never failed 
to join the rout. Waving thyrsoi and torches, beating 
drums and cymbals, singing and blowing flutes, the 
revellers rushed along. A countless crowd of women 
and girls, and even men, drunk with fiery wine, reckless 
with enthusiasm, cast sobriety to the winds and carried on 
their orgies for many days and nights on the wooded hills. 

The festival of the greater Dionysia, 1 held at Athens 
during the first half of March in every third year, although 
not lacking in jest and merriment, was yet of a compara- 
tively sober character. This Avas the great, brilliant spring 
festival of the Athenians, which showed the city in her 
gala attire to all the allies, neighbours and friends who 
flocked together for the occasion. At this season Dionysos 
Lysios loosed Nature from the bonds of winter, and the 
minds of men from care and anxiety. No one was shut 
out from this celebration ; even prisoners had their 
share. For three days the festival continued, and citizens 
vied with each other to celebrate it with due pomp. On the 
first day the ancient image of the god was carried through 
the town to another temple, banquets were held and all was 
joy and merriment. The great feature of the festival was 
the succession of theatrical performances and competitions 

1 " Mythology and Monuments," J. E. H., Div. C, Sect. xii. 
II 



146 EARTH-GODS [chap. 

in song and music, which lasted for several days. The 
most renowned poets of Greece produced their new pieces 
at the Dionysia, and this in itself was an honour, even if 
they should fail to gain the prize. Thus it was in the 
service of Dionysos that the wonderful masterpieces of 
tragedy and comedy came into being. 

There were several festivals of a simpler kind, to cele- 
brate Dionysos as the wine-god. The lesser or rural 
Dionyslv, which seem to have been a common feast of all 
Ionians, consisted of vintage rejoicings, and were held in 
December, wherever the vine was planted. Processions, 
sacrifices of oxen, and merry sports, such as dancing on a 
blown-out wine-skin rubbed with oil, were the order ; of 
the day. 

The Lenaia, or feast of the wine lees, was associated 
with the Lenaion, z the oldest sanctuary of the god in 
Athens, the site of which is as yet undiscovered. At 
this feast all the people revelled in the sweet must, called 
ambrosia. 

Finally, in February, just at the transition between winter 
and summer, the Athenians held the great feast of the 
Anthesteria. On the first day the casks were opened, 
and the new wine was tasted for the first time. On the 
second day came the feast of pitchers, with processions, 
carousals, intoxicating music and wealth of spring flowers. 
At the feast of pots, on the third day, offerings were 
brought in pots to the spirits of the departed. 

The plants most sacred to Dionysos were the vine and 
the ivy. His animals are the bull, the panther and the 
lion, the goat and the mule. His most important attribute 
is the thyrsos, a long staff which he and his Mainads 

1 "Mythology and Monuments," J. E. H., Div. A, Sect- i., addendum. 



IV.] 



BACCHUS 



147 



carry, tipped with a fir cone and decked with tendrils of 
ivy and vine. 

The figure of Dionvsos best known in art is the beautiful 
blooming youth with long curling hair, and a soft melan- 
choly expression. His only clothing is the nebris, or fawn- 
skin, slung round his shoulders, and a wreath of ivy or vine. 




Fig. 3 



tin Museum). 



There is also an older, bearded Dionvsos, corresponding to 
the aspect of the god in more primitive times, and possibly 
identical with the Indian Dionysos, conqueror of Asia. As 
such, he wears a fillet, and a long garment down to his feet. 
(Figs. 35, 36.) 

Bacchus or Liber of the Romans is essentially the same 



148 EARTH-GODS [chap. 

as the Greek Dionysos. At the Liberalia, in March, he 
was invoked as protector of plantations and vineyards, and 
worshipped with simple rural rites. In later times the 
Bacchanalia degenerated into such licence, that the 
authorities were forced to keep order by severe threats. 

4. The Attendants of Dionysos. 1 

(a) Nymphs. 

The imagination of the ancients peopled all the fields, 
mountains, valleys, thickets, woods and streams with super- 
human beings. These were feminine divinities called 
Nymphs. They were neither divine nor human, but a link 
between gods and men, loved and honoured alike by both. 
They could make themselves invisible at pleasure, fed on 
ambrosia, like the happy dwellers on Olympos, but were 
not immortal. The Nymphs were often invited to Olym- 
pian assemblies, but they were at home in lonely caves and 
quiet valleys, where they span and wove, danced and played, 
or sang sweet songs, where they hunted with Artemis, revelled 
with Dionysos, sported with Apollo and Hermes, or quar- 
relled with the rude mischievous Satyrs, with whom they 
were always at feud. 

There are many old legends about the doings of the 
Nymphs, and they form the subject of many a poem. They 
were worshipped in all their own haunts, by stream, fountain 
and tree, but especially in caves and grottoes, where water 
dripped and rocks took strange mysterious shapes. Some- 
times they admitted mortals to a share of their pleasures, or 
watched over the fate of their favourites. In later times 
separate sanctuaries were made for them, not only in lonely 
rural districts, but even in towns. These buildings, which 

1 W- Mannhardt, " Wald-upd Feldkulte." 



IV.] 



NYMPHS 



149 



were often very imposing, and were used for marriage cere- 
monies, were called Nymphaia. Here were offered to the 
goddesses goats, lambs, milk, oil and even wine. 

It would be imoossible to enumerate here all the legends 




Fig. 36. Indian Bacchos {Vatican, Rome). 



about the origin of the Nymphs. A great number of them 
were said to be children of Zeus and Themis. The poets 
give them countless names, but we may distinguish two 
principal classes. 



i5d EARTH-GODS [chap. 

i . The Naiads are goddesses of the watery element, children 
of Zeus and Themis, living in fountains and brooks ; they 
are very like the daughters of Okeanos, only distinguished 
from them by their parentage, and by being mortal. 

2. The Dryads and Hamadryads, protecting divinities of 
the trees and groves, and the Oreads, nymphs of rock and 
mountain, all appear as swift huntresses in the retinue 
of Artemis, and guard the flocks and herds as they roam 
through the woods. They have a standing feud with Pan 
and the Satyrs, who chase and tease them. 

The lively fancy of the Greeks imagined many a union 
between nymphs and gods or men. Echo pined away for 
love of Narkissos, until there was nothing left of her but a 
voice. Eurydike, mourned by all her sisters, snatched 
from her husband by an early death, was one of the 
Nymphs. 

(b) Seilenos (Silenos). 

The worship of Seilenos, as an essential part of the 
Dionysos cult, came from Asia Minor,, especially from Lydia 
and Phrygia, where the worship of Rhea-Kybele was at 
home. Here he appears as the spirit of springs and rivers, 
of damp meadows and rich gardens. He was the inventor 
of the pipe, the syrinx and the double flute used in the 
service of Kybele and Dionysos, and he knew many a secret 
art hidden from man. 

On Greek soil he first appears as the eldest of the Satyrs 
(and indeed all old Satyrs are called Silens). Then he 
becomes the overseer and master of the unruly Satyr rabble. 
Together with the Nymphs he was the nurse and tutor of 
the youthful Bacchus, and often appears as one of his atten- 
dants. (Fig. 37.) 

Seilenos understood all the processes of vintage, and his 



IV.] 



SEILENOS 



iSi 



love for wine sometimes carried him to such excess that he 
had to be held on his ass by the Satyrs, lest he should fall. 
He is often represented holding a bunch of grapes, a drink- 
ing-cup or a wine-skin in his hand, or he is drunk and 
supported by two Satyrs. His appearance is that of a short, 




mr- -hi? "SUP 

FlG. 37. Silenus and Bacchus \ Vatican, Rome). 

squat, bearded and bald-headed old man. The ass on which 
Seilenos rides is described as a crafty beast who, when its 
master, as shield-bearer and esquire of Dionysos, took part in 
the war of the giants, raised its voice, and so frightened 
the giants that they took to flight. 



iS2 EARTH-GODS [chap. 

Of the legends about Seilenos current among the Greeks, 
we may mention two — the tale of Marsyas and the tale of 
Midas. Marsyas was said to be the inventor of the double 
flutes, which Athene tried, but threw away in disgust when 
she found that they distorted her face. The Silen found 
them, picked them up, and became such a skilful player 
that he even ventured to compete with Apollo. King Midas 
of Phrygia was the umpire, but when he gave the prize 
to Marsyas, the god punished him by making ass's ears 
grow on his head, and gave command that Marsyas should 
be put to a cruel death for his presumption. 

Midas was the son and favourite of Kybele, and had rich 
possessions. He tried long in vain to get Seilenos into his 
power. At last he mixed wine in a fountain, made Seilenos 
drunk and learned from him to prophec}' the future, and 
penetrate into secrets of Nature hidden from ordinary men. 
Another legend says that Midas became the more avaricious 
the richer he grew. Once on a time old Seilenos, having 
lost his way, came to Midas' gate. Midas received him 
hospitably, entertained him with his best for three days and 
sent him back to Dionysos. For this kindness he was 
allowed to choose a reward, and in his blind covetousness, 
Midas wished that everything he touched might turn into 
gold. He soon had cause to regret his folly. What had 
seemed to him so desirable turned out his bane, for not only 
stones and twigs, but meat and drink turned into hard gold 
at his touch. Dionysos, at his earnest prayer, showed him a 
cure. He must bathe in the river Pactolus. He did so, and 
the river to this day washes down gold produced by his 
touch. 

(c) The Satyrs. 

The Satyrs played a chief part in the careless, lawless, 
mischievous troop which attended Dionysos. They were 



iv.] PAN AND THE SATYRS 153 

sensual half-savage creatures, and therefore are represented 
shaped in part like beasts. Their ape-like face was sur- 
rounded by bristling hair, from which rose little horns and 
pointed ears, and they had goats' tails. They used to dance 
and jump to the music of flutes, castanets, drums and bag- 
pipes. Satyrs were feared because they made raids on the 
flocks, and frightened women and children, nor were the 
Nymphs secure from their pursuit. 

Satyrs were at home among hills and forests. There, 
while undisturbed and unwatched, they amused themselves 
with hunting, music, dancing, drinking and ingathering of 
the grapes. They and the wild revelling Mainads were the 
faithful attendants of Bacchos in his travels. 

Later art gave the Satyrs a more beautiful and human 
form. A statue by Praxiteles was much praised on this 
account by the ancients, and most of the representations 
which remain show the Satyrs as slender youths showing 
mere indications of the lower form, such as ears and tail, and 
usually wearing a nebris on the breast. 

{d) Pan.' 

" Universal Pan 
Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance."" 

Pan is simply the goat-herd god of the cattle-rearing 
tribes of Greece. He was worshipped, especially in Arkadia, 
as protector of shepherds, their flocks and the pastures on 
which they grazed, and he also superintended hunting and 
fishing. Sometimes he is a son of Zeus, sometimes of 
Hermes and a nymph. As god of the green fields he is 
found in association with Dionysos, as mountain-god, with 
Kybele. As lover of dancing and sport, he blows on the 

1 Immerwahr, " Mythen und Kulte Arkadiens." 

2 Milton, " Paradise Lost," iv. 266. 



154 EARTH-GODS [chap. 

shepherd's reed, called after him, " Pan's pipe." Story 
said that Syrinx, a coy nymph, fleeing from Pan's pursuit, 
was changed into a reed, that Pan cut this reed and made it 
into a sweet -toned shepherd's flute, and that in the evening, 
after the merry hunt, or when he was weary with driving 
the flocks to pasture, he would play tunes on it as he rested 
in his cave. 

As god of primitive herdsmen Pan led a wandering un- 
settled life. He roved through woods and fields, or rested 
and played his pipe in shady hollows and on cool river- 
banks. Hence mountains and caves were specially sacred to 
him. As mountain spirit the god made his presence known 
by the uneasy feeling of loneliness and desolation which lays 
mysterious hold of a traveller in mountainous regions, when 
storms howl round him and he is far from the sound of a 
human voice. This strange, awesome terror, without definite 
cause, the Greeks called " Panic fear." 

In Athens a special grotto on the Acropolis was conse- 
crated to Pan and called by his name ; yearly sacrifices 
were made and torches burnt in honour of the god, and in 
grateful remembrance of the panic fears which had scattered 
the Persian armies at Marathon and Salamis. 

Pan was usually represented as a bearded man with a 
distorted countenance, hairy body and goat's horns and 
ears, holding in his hand a seven-stopped shepherd's pipe 
(syrinx), or a crooked shepherd's staff. 

(e) Priapos. 

Priapos, the special protector of fields and gardens, was 
supposed to be the son of Dionysos and Aphrodite. Fertility 
in plants and animals was ascribed to his power, his hand 
protected herds, bee-hives and fishing-nets. The first fruits 
of the field and libations of wine and honey were offered to 



i v.] PRIAPOS A ND FA UNUS 1 5 5 

him. His statues represent him as a man of ripe age, 
holding a pruning-knife, and carrying fruits in his tunic. 

5. Roman Wood and Field Gods. 

The inhabitants of Italy were originally simple shepherds 
and husbandmen. It was therefore quite natural that they 
should, like the Greeks, imagine their fields and woods 
peopled by a great number of divine and semi-divine 
beings, on whose fostering care all things depended for 
fertility and health. In early times these divinities kept 
their primitive characteristics, but they afterwards became 
confused with Greek gods whose legends were brought to 
Italy and became popular there. 

(a) Faunus {Fatuus). 

This divinity has often'been mistaken for the Greek Pan, 
but there are important differences between them. Faunus 
was a benevolent daemon, living in woods and clefts of the 
rock, knowing the future, and granting offspring to men and 
beasts ; his worship was zealously carried on. The Fau- 
nalia was a rural festival held in December. The Luper- 
calia were celebrated every year on the 15th of February as 
an expiation for the whole city ; a goat was sacrificed in the 
cave called Lupercal where the wolf had suckled Romulus 
and Remus ; the brotherhood of the Luperci, having put 
on the skins of the slaughtered beasts, ran through the city 
performing many strange ceremonies. 1 

Weird mysterious fears were ascribed to the agency of 
Faunus. His sudden cry at night would terrify the lonely 
wanderer in the wood, and evil dreams were his ambassadors. 
His name as god of dreams is Fatuus or Incubus. 

1 Mannhardt, " Mythologische Forschungen." 



156 EARTH-GODS [chap. 

The oracles of Faunus were to be found in shady groves, 
where the god revealed his will to his worshippers in dreams. 

Fauna (Fatua) Maia, and Bona Dea, are female divinities 
of fertility. Maia gives her name to the month of May, 
the freshest of the year. The cult of Bona Dea, while in 
rural districts it retained its old simple character, became 
the occasion, in Rome, of unseemly licence. Fauna corre- 
sponds in character to Faunus. All these goddesses were 
skilled in magic and the healing art, and were worshipped 
with rites to which only women were admitted. 



(b) Picus, Picumnus and Pilumnus. 

Picus, the woodpecker, Mars' sacred bird, was, according 
to many legends, the son and successor of Saturn, husband 
of the nymph Kauko, and father of Faunus. His name is 
explained by a myth which relates that Circe loved the 
youth for his beauty, and changed him into a woodpecker 
because he refused her love. Picus, like Faunus, is a god of 
husbandmen and herdsmen, who lives in the forest and near 
streams, and has the gift of prophecy. The Augurs, who 
foreboded the future by observing various signs, especially the 
flight of birds, used to worship him as a personification of 
the prophetic power. 

Picumnus and Pilumnus are a pair of brother-gods who 
preside over marriage. When a child was born, a couch 
was prepared in the house for Picumnus, for he, as god of 
agriculture, could ensure health and wealth. Pilumnus, with 
his club (pilum), the instrument with which he threshed 
the corn, warded off all evil influence from the new-born 
babe. These two brothers had done many doughty deeds 
in peace and war, and were often compared with the Dioscuri, 
Castor and Pollux. 






iv.] SILVANUS AND TERMINUS 157 

(d) Stlvanus. 

Stlvanus, too, was god of herdsman. His functions corre- 
spond in the main to those of Faunus, but, as his name 
shows, he took woods and plantations under his special pro- 
tection. He inhabited forests, fields, boundary lands and 
river-banks, and was supposed to have been the first to erect 
boundary-stones between the lands of neighbouring owners, 
thus introducing order into rural affairs. In three different 
aspects Silvanus ruled over house, field and wood, and being 
friendly to rustics he was worshipped in every hamlet. He 
is represented in human form as a cheerful old man, holding 
a shepherd's pipe, like sylvan divinities, and provided with a 
young tree-stem, his forest emblem. 

(e) Terminus. 

Terminus protects private property by means of bound- 
aries. The setting-up of a boundary-stone was accompanied 
by rites supposed to have been instituted by Numa ; this 
boundary-mark was sacred, and any one who removed or 
defaced it was severely punished. The strict inviolability of 
boundaries in Rome is shown by the fable, that Terminus 
would not give way even to Jupiter when his great temple 
was to be built on the Capitol. Therefore the sanctuary of 
Jupiter was built round the stone of Terminus. 

The festival of the Terminalia, held in February, was 
intended to recall to the minds of the peasants the sanctity 
of landmarks. Sacrifices were offered to the god, and the 
stones, which bore his image, were decked with wreaths of 
flowers and anointed with oil. The festival ended in a 
cheerful gathering of neighbours for feast and song. 

(J) Pales. 
Pales was worshipped by all the Italians as a divinity 



158 EARTH-GODS [char 

presiding over the rearing of cattle, and was supposed by 
some to be male, by others, female. Every year on the 21st 
of April, the legendary anniversary of the founding of the 
city, his festival, the Palilia, was celebrated with offerings 
of milk and wine. Heaps of straw and hay were set on fire 
for the rite of purification, while to the sound of pipes and 
cymbals every beast in the flock, and lastly the shepherd 
himself, must jump through the flames. In later times the 
Palilia were merged in the feast of the foundation of the city. 

(g) Saturnus and Ops. 

The Romans honoured Saturn as protector of corn-fields 
aad of the harvest. He was the founder of systematic agri- 
culture, gave men a settled life and taught them civilized 
habits. Saturn was thought of as a legendary king of the 
Golden Age. Banished from Greece, he had sailed in 
his own ship as far as Mount Janiculus, had been kindly 
received by King Janus, and taking up his abode on the 
Tiber-bank, had become king of the peasants and shepherds 
there, and long held beneficent sway over them. 

As an ever-recurring reminder of these peaceful times, the 
Saturnalia were celebrated every year during several days 
of December. All classes of the population took part, the 
law courts had a holiday, friends and relations gave presents 
to each other, and even slaves might forget their condition 
on this one day, for they put on free-men's clothes, sat at table 
with their masters and were even served by them. Every- 
where was merry-making, and the more well-to-do citizens 
kept open house. It was unlucky to begin any undertaking 
during the Saturnalia, it was a time devoted entirely to 
mirth and enjoyment. 

The oldest sanctuary of Saturn stood at the foot of the 
Capitol. The ancient images of the god were bound with 



IV.] 



SATURN US AND OPS 



159 



fetters, and it was generally believed that the god was thus 
bound to the city and could not remove his gifts and 
favours from it. The state-treasure was kept in a vault 




Fig. 38. Flora [Naples). 

under the temple, and Saturn," as giver of wealth, watched 
over it. His attribute is the sickle. 

Ops was the wife of Saturn and was worshipped with him. 
She, too, gave wealth and tended young children. In later 
times her significance as goddess of the fruitful earth fell into 



160 EARTH-GODS [chap. iv. 

the background ; she was then worshipped chiefly with her 
son Jupiter, and was thought to exercise a far-reaching 
influence on human fate. 

(li) Vertumnus and Pomona. 
Vertumnus, as his name shows, (Verier e, to turn), is the 
god of vicissitude in nature, shown in the succession of bud, 
blossom and fruit. He was a young and beautiful gardener- 
god, husband of Pomona, who is represented as a woman in 
rustic clothing, with a pruning-knife in her hand. She 
refused all suitors, and even the fair Vertumnus wooed her 
long in vain. In order to persuade her, he presented him- 
self to her in various forms, as a hunter, a fisher, a vintager, 
a warrior and last as an old woman. Being unsuccessful, 
he returned to his own shape and won her by his beauty. 
A special' priest, the Flamen Pomonak's, was set apart for 
the service of Vertumnus and Pomona. 

(J) Flora, 

Flora, the beautiful goddess of flowers, was devoutly 
worshipped by the Romans. (Fig. 38.) The beginning of 
her cultus and the institution of the Flamen Flor all's, were 
ascribed to Numa. After the first Punic war the Romans 
introduced the Floralia, games which were celebrated with 
the greatest freedom and mirth during Imperial times, from 
the 28th of April to the 5th of May. Those who took part 
in the festival assembled in the Circus crowned with 
flowers, mimic dances were performed and hares and goats 
were chased. 

Meditrina, goddess of medicine, may here be mentioned. 
In October the Meditrinalia were celebrated atRome in her 
honour. New wine was drunk and poured in libation to the 
goddess, as the health-giver. 



CHAPTER V. 
DIVINITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD. 

BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 



Pausanias. 
Homer. 
Vergil. 

Harrison, J. E. 
Rohde, Erwin. 
Hartwig. 



Book x. 25-27. 

Odyssey, xi. 

Aen, vii. 

Myths of the Odyssey. 

Psyche. 

Darstellunsren der Unterwelt. 



i. Plouton and his Kingdom. 
We have spoken of Demeter as the goddess of the seed- 
corn which is laid in the dark lap of earth, and we have told 
how her daughter Persephone led a double life, above and 
below. We have thus come to the entrance of the under- 
world. The divinities we have now to study rule over the 
realm of darkness. 

Plouton (Aides, A'idoneus, Hades) was a son of Kronos and 
brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He was enthroned by 
Persephone's side and ruled over the dead. After the 
offerings to the dead and due burial rites were over, the 
souls of the departed came to the kingdom of Pluto in the 
form of little winged beings. They were led thither by 
Hermes Psychopompos, or for the fee of an obol, which was 



162 DIVINITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD [chap 

laid in the grave with every dead man, the churlish boat- 
man Charon would ferry them over the streams which 
flowed between the upper and the underworld, the Acheron, 
Pyriphlegethon, Kokytos and Styx. Far in the West, in . 
eternal darkness, surrounded by poplars and willows, stood 
the vast mysterious palace of the god, and over the barren 
fields around it flitted the spirits of the departed. Woe to 
him behind whom the gates of Hades had once closed ! 
Open to all, they allowed no return, for Kerberos, a gigantic 
dog with many heads, kept guard. The souls there passed 
a wretched phantom existence, continuing the occupa- 
tions which they had carried on in the upper world, but 
as in a dream and without clear consciousness. They all 
longed to return to the light and warmth they had been 
forced to leave. So the shade of Achilles says, in the 
Odyssey, that it is better to live on the earth as a poor day- 
labourer than to rule as a prince among the dead. 1 From 
time to time the shades of the dead might appear to their 
friends in the upper world, or could be conjured up by 
sacrifices. When they had partaken of the blood of the 
slaughtered animal, they received consciousness and speech 
for a short time, as Homer relates in the Odyssey (Bk. xi). 
Only a very few heroes succeeded in returning altogether 
to the upper world. Herakles, led by Hermes, took away 
Kerberos, and so great was the might of Orpheus' song, 
that Persephone could not resist him, and gave him back 
his wife. Even in later times Persephone was supposed to 
yield to the influence of music. 

— " when Sicilian shepherds lost a mate, 

Some good survivor with his flute would go, 
Piping a ditty sad for Bion's fate ; 

And cross the unpermitted ferry's flow, 

And relax Pluto's brow, 

1 Od., xi. 481. 



v.] JUDGES OF THE DEAD 163 

And make leap up with joy the beauteous head 
Of Proserpine, among whose crowned hair 
Are flowers first opened on Sicilian air, 
And flute his friend, like Orpheus, from the dead." 1 

By means of the oracles of the dead, called Nekromanteia, 
it was thought possible to conjure up departed spirits and 
gain from them knowledge of the future. 

Beside Aides, the supreme judge of the dead, were 
enthroned other judges, Minos, Rhadamanthos, Aiakos and 
Triptolemos, all of them kings who by their god-fearing and 
pious lives had shown themselves worthy of this honour. 
The dead who appeared before them to hear their doom were 
sent, some to the Islands of the Blest in the Ocean, there to 
lead a life of bliss under the peaceful rule of Kronos, some 
to hover in ghostly unsubstantial form round the palace of 
Hades, and some to the place of torment in the depths of 
Tartaros, to do penance as criminals. There were many 
legends among the Greeks about the punishments of the 
underworld. Tttyos, who had attempted to offer violence to 
Leto, was punished by being stretched defenceless on the 
ground, while two vultures gnawed at his liver. Tantalos, 2 
grown arrogant through prosperity, placed the flesh of his 
own son before the immortals, when they were his guests, 
in order to test their omniscience. For this impiety he was 
punished with eternal hunger and thirst. Over his head 
hung the fairest fruits, but as soon as he stretched his 
hand to pluck them, a gust of wind carried the branch into 
the air. Up to his breast he stood in cool water, but as 
soon as he bent down to quench his burning thirst the 
water slipped away. Sisyphos, a powerful king in Corinth, 
had committed many crimes against the gods, and had even 

1 M. Arnold. 

s E. Thraemer, " Pergamos " (Pelops, p. 33). 



164 DIVINITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD [chap. 

dared to measure his strength with theirs. He was con- 
demned to roll a heavy stone up the slope of a mountain, 
and always just as he reached the top, the stone slipped from 
his hands and rolled down again into the valley. Ixion 1 
was bound hand and foot to a wheel which turned ceaselessly 
with the speed of the wind, and the Dajza'ides, for the crime 
of the murder of their husbands, were condemned to draw 
water in sieves. 

In this comfortless joyless realm Aides ruled as king. 
The Greeks looked on death with aversion, and did not 
willingly let their thoughts dwell on the existence of the 
tomb. Hence it is not surprising to find that offerings were 
rarely brought to Aides, and that there are few myths 
or legends connected with his name. He was thought of as 
a fierce robber, coming in his chariot with black horses and 
snatching men unawares, or as a wild hunter ranging 
through the world, or as a shepherd who tended the flocks 
of ghosts in the misty fields of the underworld. He had a 
helmet or cap which made him invisible, and was an emblem 
of death who makes invisible. The Cyklops had given it to 
him as he gave Zeus the thunderbolt and Poseidon the trident. 

As the kingdom of Aides was commonly believed to be 
separated from the upper world only by a thin layer of earth, 
it was natural that deep clefts and dark ravines with water- 
falls and gloomy pools should suggest the idea of a connec- 
tion with the underworld. In many places in Greece, 
especially volcanic districts where there were earthquakes, 
hot springs or poisonous vapours, such openings were shown, 
and were supposed to lead to Aides' realm. The district of 
Lake Avernus, near Cumae, in Italy, was a place of this kind. 

Another very widespread myth placed the land of the 
departed far in the West — in a region where there is no sun, 

1 W. Mannhardt, " Wald-und Feldkulte. " 



v.] ISLANDS OF THE BLEST 165 

moon or stars. In the river Okeanos, which flows round 
the whole world, lay the Islands of the Blest, where deified 
heroes led a life free from care and sorrow. This was the 
lot of Menelaus, as it was foretold him by the ancient man 
of the sea : " But thou Menelaus, son of Zeus, art not 
ordained to die and meet thy fate in Argos, the pasture- 
land of horses, but the deathless gods will convey thee to 
the Elysian plain and the world's end, where is Rhada- 
manthus of the fair hair, where life is easiest for men. No 
snow is there, nor yet great storm, nor any rain ; but always 
ocean sendeth forth the breeze of the shrill West to blow 
cool on men : yea, for thou hast Helen to wife, and thereby 
they deem thee to be son of Zeus " (Od., iv. 560, Trans. 
Butcher and Lang). 

Aides was not only the god of death, but the giver of 
fertility — the god who makes the seed-corn bring forth its 
fruit, after it has lain the due time in the dark earth. The 
mineral treasures of the mine were supposed to be his gift to 
men, and in this aspect he was called Plouton, the wealthy 
one. Plouton is frequently represented in art. His face is 
gloomy and severe, and his head is covered with long, 
tangled locks ; he bears the sceptre as king of the under- 
world, a horn of plenty, to signify his wealth, or in later 
art, a key, to show his power over the gates of death. 

The Romans called the supreme pair of underworld 
divinities Hades or Dis, and Proserpina. They correspond 
to Aides and Persephone of the Greeks. There were no 
separate temples to Dis Pater, but shrines were dedicated 
to him in the temples of other gods. On the Campus 
Martius stood, from ancient times, an altar to the under- 
world gods. It was buried in the earth, was only uncovered 
on the occasion of a sacrifice, and was again covered with 
earth immediately afterwards. 



1 66 Divinities of the underworld [chap. 

The Secular Games, instituted to take place once every 
hundred years, but in later times celebrated at shorter 
intervals, were in honour of Dis Pater and his queen, and 
of the spirits of the departed. 

2. Persephone (Proserpina). 
Persephone or Kore, daughter of Demeter, had a double 
aspect in the popular faith of Greece. As consort of the 
underworld ruler, she is the dark goddess, enemy of life, who 
dwells expectant in the underworld. 

" She waits for each and other, 

She waits for all men born ; 
Forgets the earth her mother, 

The life of fruits and corn ; 
And spring and seed and swallow 
Take wing for her and follow 
Where summer song rings hollow 

And flowers are put to scorn." 1 

But in summer, when Persephone returns to her mother, 
she is a goddess of growth and increase. The story of Perse- 
phone symbolizes the life of the seed-corn, sleeping in the 
earth in winter, and ripening to fruit in summer. It also 
figures the career of man, who has his spring of life and 
vigour, and his winter of decay and death. 

The Eleusinian mysteries emphasized this consoling aspect 
of death. As Persephone was not bound for ever to the 
world of shadows, the worshippers were encouraged to hope 
for a continued existence of the soul after death. 

In her double capacity Persephone shares the honours 
both of her mother, Demeter, and of her husband, Aides. 
She was represented as a beautiful veiled maiden, to show 
her mysterious character, or as a queen, crowned, and 

1 A. C. Swinburne. 



v.] PERSEPHONE AND THE ERINYES 167 

throned by Aides' side, holding in her hand a narcissus or 
a pomegranate. 

The Roman poets sing of Proserpina, but she had little 
hold on popular faith. The native goddess of the shades 
was Libitina or Lubentina, whose worship was closely 
connected with death and funeral rites. 

3. Other Divinities of the Underworld. 
(a) Erinyes (Furzes).* 

The Erinves were believed to be daughters of Night, or of 
Earth and Darkness, or of Kronos and Eurynome. They 
were avenging goddesses — servants of Hades and Per- 
sephone — who lived at the entrance to the underworld, 
and were set apart to punish and torment the departed 
spirits of those who had done evil on earth, and had come to 
the kingdom of shades without having appeased the gods. 
At the behest of the gods they often rose to the upper 
world. In the form and dress of huntresses, with snakes 
hanging from their hair and their girdles, and torches in 
their hands, they ceaselessly and tirelessly pursued fugitive 
evil-doers. No one could escape them, for they heard and 
saw everything. The Erinyes were the inexorable rep- 
resentatives of divine law, and avenged every impiety 
towards father or mother, every dereliction of duty and 
good faith, and especially every false oath. At the same 
time they were a refuge and protection for the good. In 
Athens they were called Semnai (the venerable ones), and 
in Sikyon Eumenides (the kindly ones), as an indication of 
their beneficial influence on human culture and morals. 

The Greeks regarded the Erinyes with great awe and 

{^Eschylus, " Eumenides." 
" Myths of the Odyssey," J. E. H., p. 93. 



1 68 DIVINITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD [chap. 

veneration, and woi shipped them in dark groves as god- 
desses of the underworld. The double aspect of these 
goddesses, destructive and beneficent, was brought before 
the mind of the people by the works of the tragic poets. 
The legend of Orestes presents the Erinyes in their punish- 
ing and avenging functions. 

In early times the Erinyes were of no definite number ; 
later, names are given to three of them, Tisiphone (avenger 
of murder), Alekto (the tireless in pursuit), and Megaira 
(the terrible one). Originally they were conceived of as 
hideous female shapes, of repulsive countenance, clothed in 
black, sometimes winged, with snakes instead of hair, and 
holding snakes, daggers, scourges or torches in their hands. 
In later times, and especially in Athens, this horrible con- 
ception was abandoned, and they were represented as 
beautiful maidens, dressed like Artemis in the short hunting 
chiton. Their snake-like hair and grave aspect alone 
recalled their earlier and more terrible form. 

There were other divine or half-divine beings who 
symbolized the mysterious terrors of death and darkness, 
but were not themselves objects of worship. 

(b) The Graiai. 

The Graiai were three daughters of the sea-god Phorkys 
and Keto. Their names were Dezno, Pephredo, Enyo 
(Fright, Shuddering and Horror). They were the elder 
sisters and nurses of the Gorgons, mis-shapen hags, grey 
and ugly from their birth, who lived in a dark cave in the 
West, not far removed from the entrance to Hades, and 
possessed only one eye and one tooth between them. When 
Perseus went in search of the Gorgons, he came first to the 
Graiai ; he seized their eye, and only gave it back when 
they had told him the way to the dwelling of the Gorgons. 



v.J 



THE GORGONS 



iOy 



(c) Gordons. 

These, like the Graiai, were daughters of Phorkys and 
Keto, and were called Stheno, Euryale and Medusa. Like 
their sisters, they lived on the confines of light and darkness, 
in eternal twilight. In the later representations of art and 
poetry, the three Gorgons are frightful apparitions, half 




Fig. 39. Medusa ( Villa Ludovisi, Rome). 



animal, half human. Two of them were immortal, but 
Medusa, the youngest and most beautiful, was mortal. 
Poseidon loved her, and wooed her in the very temple 
of Athene. The goddess, being enraged at the desecra- 
tion of her temple, punished Medusa by changing her 
hair into snakes, and by making her more deadly and 
terrible than her sisters. At last Perseus, under the 



170 DIVINITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD [chap. 

protection and by the command of Athene, ventured to 
approach her as she slept, and struck off her head. 

Perseus gave the head of Medusa, 1 whose look turned 
every one into stone, to his patron goddess, Athene. She set 
it in the front of her aegis, to be a terror to her enemies, the 
boldest of whom dared not face the Gorgon's head. (Fig. 39.) 

Medusa was the mother of the mighty giant Chrysaor 
and of the winged horse Pegasos, both of whom sprang 
from her headless trunk at the moment of her death. 

id) Hypnos and Thanatos (Somnos and Mors). 

Hypnos was the god of sleep, son of Night and twin- 
brother of Thanatos, Death. He was ruler of gods and 
men, and lived with his mother and brother in deep 
subterranean darkness at the entrance of the under- 
world. He was a kind divinity, for he brought rest to 
the weary and relief to the suffering. He is represented 
in different ways — nude, dressed in a single garment, or 
richly robed, standing, walking rapidly, or languidly re- 
clining, as winged youth, child, or bearded man. He is 
the favourite of the Muses, because he sends dreams to man 
The Romans called him Somnus. 

Thanatos, 2 the Mors of the Romans, god of death, was 
a son of Night and brother of Sleep, not kindly and 
beneficent, but inexorable and severe, a horror to gods and 
men. He is sometimes called a son of Earth and Tartaros : 
no doubt because, through death, men come into close 
connection with the earth and the underworld. 3 

Although the ancients looked on Death as a hard and 
cruel god, they did not represent him in the repulsive form 
of a skeleton, as modern artists do, but in varying shapes, 

1 A. Voigt, " Beitrage zur Mythologie des Ares und der Athene." 

3 C. Robert, " Thanatos." 

3 Homer, Iliad, xvi. 667 (Sarpedon). 



••] 



HYPNOS AND THANATOS 



171 



according to the spirit of the time. In the most ancient 
art of Greece he and his brother are babes carried in the 
arms of Night, Hypnos being coloured white, and Thanatos 
black. After this we find him in the form of a tall, power- 




Fig. 40. Genius of Death. 



ful man of wild and fierce aspect, with two great wings 
on his shoulders, a quieter form of Boreas, the boisterous 
storm-wind of winter. But there are other better known 
representations. In these he appears as a winged youth of 



172 



DIVINITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD [cHaP. 



gentle, melancholy aspect, his feet crossed, and an inverted 
torch in his hand ; or he leans against a tree trunk in 
an attitude of repose, with his arms behind his head. 
(Fig. 40.) 

This attractive aspect of Death, which took the place of 
the repulsive one, probably symbolizes the gentle departure 




Fig. 41. Amphora : " Underworld " {Munich). 

of the spirit to Elysium. Apollo and Artemis, as has been 
already shown, share some of the functions of the death- 
god. (Fig. 41.) 

(e) Oneiros and Morpheus. 

Oneiros was the dream-god. His name is also found in 

the plural ; and dreams are distinguished as true and false. 

The false dreams issued from the ivory gate, and the true 

dreams from the horn gate of the palace, west of Okeanos, 



v.] ONEJROS AND MORPHEUS 173 

where they dwelt. They were called children of Nyx 
(night), and also sons of Sleep. They stood at the command 
of the superior gods, and were sent hither and thither at 
their pleasure. Morpheus was supposed by some to be a 
kind of guardian or ruler of dreams, as Aiolos was lord of 
the winds, but his name also occurs, meaning an actual 
dream-god who creates images in sleep. Other dream-gods 
are Ikelos, the bringer of illusions ; Phobctor, the terrifier ; 
and Phantasos, the divinity of confused and complicated 
visions. (Fig. 42.) 




s* 



Fig. 42. -Head of Aphrodite from Melos {Paris, Louvre). 



CHAPTER VI. 

MYTHS OF HEROES. 

No nation possesses authentic records of its earliest begin- 
nings, and yet all peoples have some theory of how they came 
to be. Where history fails, imagination steps in, fills up 
at pleasure the gaps in oral tradition, and forms a fabric of 
mingled fact and fancy which the popular mind easily 
absorbs, and which even the scientific investigator can 
scarcely hope to separate into its component parts. 

A nation which prides itself on its greatness will naturally 
not ascribe its origin to blind chance, but will seek for 
a source as exalted as possible, and finally claim divine 
ancestry. The humbler sort of the people, however, will 
not consider themselves direct descendants of the god, but will 
reserve that honour for the princes and nobles who rule and 
judge them, whose deeds their annals relate, and who seem 
to be formed of a different clay from themselves. A mythical 
genealogy will connect these nobles with the local god, and 
make each the offspring of a union between the god or god- 
dess and a son or daughter of the land. 

These half-divine, half-human ancestors of princely 
houses, who form an intermediate stage between the 
nation and its god are called Heroes or Demigods. The 



vi. WORSHIP OF HEROES 175 

myths which relate their lives and doings are partly re- 
miniscence of primitive battles, calamities, migrations and 
colonizations, and partly pure poetic invention and story- 
telling. 

An imaginative and inventive people loves to glorify its 
early history by the relation of miraculous events, to mul- 
tiply the exploits of its heroes, to adorn fact with fiction 
and to give poetic form and colour to the whole. This is 
exemplified in the most striking manner in the case of the 
Greeks. Their hero mythology is an inexhaustible store- 
house of the most beautiful, wonderful and touchingly 
human tales. 

To their divine parentage the heroes owed the might, 
beauty, courage and wisdom which they possessed in so high 
a degree, but the human side of their origin prevented them 
from sharing the immortality of the gods. They were sub- 
ject to death, and numbers of them were laid low in the great 
Trojan and Theban wars. In the earliest times the condition 
of heroes after death was supposed to be the same as that of 
other mortals, they became insubstantial shades in Hades, 
and only a very few favourites of the gods found their way 
to the Islands of the Blest. In later times, however, it was 
believed that dead heroes had all gone to the Islands of the 
Blest, and were living there in an eternal Golden Age, under 
the rule of Kronos, or that they still walked the earth in- 
visible, as guardians of later generations, appearing from time 
to time to give aid at critical moments. When this later belief 
became common, the cultus of heroes was instituted. Prayers 
and sacrifices were offered to them in order to gain their 
favour and protection. Heroes were not so highly honoured 
as the gods ; they had neither special priests nor, as a rule, 
organized festivals, but at stated times sacrifices were 
offered to them on their altars or at their tombs. The 



176 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

more distinguished had temples built for their worship, 
and some, like Herakles, were made gods after death and 
received full divine honours. There was distinction of 
rank even among heroes, for some were nearer to the gods, 
others to men. 

Hero mythology falls naturally into three divisions : 

I. The ancient world, the creation of man, and the 
earliest events affecting the human race ; the period when 
Prometheus formed the first men out of clay, when great con- 
vulsions of nature, such as the Ogygian and Inachian floods, 
destroyed all the earliest race of man except a few survivors, 
the period in which the separate tribes, under their own 
ancestral rulers, began to choose settled abodes and to lead 
an independent life. 

II. The period of the older heroes, of Herakles and 
Theseus, Minos, Pelops, Perseus and Bellerophon, the time 
of the great expeditions and campaigns undertaken by a 
number banded together, such, for instance, as the hunt of 
the Kalydonian Boar, and the voyage of the Argonauts to 
Kolchis. 

III. The period of historic tradition, enlarged and adorned 
with legend ; the time of the younger heroes, sons and 
descendants of the older demigods, but more human than 
they, the time of the expedition against Thebes and the 
great Trojan war. 

I. THE ANCIENT WORLD AND THE EARLIEST AGE. 1 
Japetos, one of the Titans, sons of Kronos, was fated to 
become the ancestor of the human race. He took to wife 
the Okeanid Klymene, who bore him four sons, Menoitos, 
Atlas, Prometheus and Epimetheus. Atlas became bearer 
of the pillars on which the brazen vault of Heaven rests. 

1 .Eschylus, " Prometheus Bound." 



vi.] PROMETHEUS 177 

Prometheus and Epimetheus (Forethought and After- 
thought) are closely connected with the traditions about 
man. 

Prometheus fashioned the first men out of clay, and 
Athene breathed a living soul into them. These first men 
led a savage, uncultured life. The germ of all mental 
faculties and gifts lay dormant in them, but one thing was 
lacking to their development. Without fire, to burn on the 
hearth, they could neither cook their food nor exercise use- 
ful arts. Now Zeus had no goodwill to the creatures of 
Prometheus. He foresaw that if they once became possessed 
of fire, they would no longer be so immediately dependent on 
the will of the gods and the gifts of Nature, but would be 
carried away by their arrogance to impiety and crime. He 
therefore refused them the gift, but Prometheus, full of love 
for his creatures, would not stop half-way, but would make 
them complete even against the will of the gods. Creeping 
secretly to the hearth of Zeus he stole a spark of the 
heavenly fire, brought it down to earth and kindled from 
it the first fire on a human hearth. Others relate that 
Prometheus took a dry twig and approached the chariot of 
Helios as he drove past, that the twig caught fire and that 
Prometheus lighted his torch with it. 

Zeus could not recall the gift once taken, but Prometheus 
had to pay dearly for his bold defiance. He was fettered to 
Mount Caucasus by Hephaistos, and every day a ravenous 
eagle came and devoured his liver, which always grew again. 
After centuries of this torment had passed, Herakles in his 
wanderings came to Mount Caucasus. He pitied Pro- 
metheus, whose pride had long been tamed, and after 
shooting the eagle he freed him from his bonds. At the 
intercession of his son Herakles, Zeus agreed that Pro- 
metheus should go free, but he must always wear a ring, in 
13 



178 MYTHS OF HEROES fcHAP- 

which a piece of the Caucasus rock was set, as a symbol of 
his indissoluble connection with the mountain. 

As soon as men became possessed of fire, and their 
material condition improved, they began to forget the gods. 
Then Zeus resolved to send trouble and sorrow to them. 
And it was by means of a woman that trouble came into the 
world. 

Hephaistos, the skilful artificer, by command of Zeus 
fashioned the first woman out of clay. The story is told 
by Hesiod. 

" He spoke, and they did the will of Zeus, son of Kronos, the Lord ; 
For straightway the halting one, the famous, at his word, 
Took clay and moulded an image, in form of a maiden fair, 
And Athene the gray-eyed goddess girt her and decked her hair, 
And about her the Graces divine, and our Lady Persuasion set 
Bracelets of gold on her flesh ; and about her, others yet, 
The Hours, with their beautiful hair, twined wreaths of blossoms of spring, 
While Pallas Athene still ordered her decking in everything. - 
Then put the Argus-slayer, the marshal of souls to their place, 
Tricks and flattering words in her bosom, and thievish ways ; 
He wrought by the will of Zeus, the Loud-thundering, giving her voice, 
Spokesman of gods that he is, and for name of her this was his choice : 
Pandora, because in Olympos the gods joined together then, 
And ALL of them gave her, a GIFT, a sorrow, to covetous men." * 

The gods sent Hermes to lead her to Epimetheus, brother 
of Prometheus. Epimetheus should have taken care not to 
receive a present from Zeus, but, rash and headstrong as he 
was, he took the lovely maiden to his home and made her 
his wife. 

As her dowry from the gods Pandora had brought with 
her a box, tightly closed, and had told Epimetheus not to 
open it. But as Epimetheus was very curious to know what 

{See " Mythology and Monuments, Athens," J. E. H. 
Hesiod, "Works and Days," 69-82, 



vi.] THE FOUR CREEK RACES 179 

was inside he lifted the lid. Immediately there flew out of 
the box all the sorrows, diseases and plagues which torment 
human life, and when Epimetheus, frightened at his rash act, 
shut down the lid again, nothing remained in the box except 
Hope, which helps men to bear grief. 

The human race, which had now attained to some degree 
of civilization, was thus exposed to a thousand sorrows, and 
in spite of their high-mindedness and arrogance, men became 
the prey of death and disease. For centuries they grew in 
skill and pride, and forgot the gods more and more, till Zeus, 
angry with their crimes, determined to destroy them all. A 
great flood covered the land, and every living thing perished 
in it. In different local legends this flood is called by different 
names. In Attica and Boeotia it is called the Ogygian flood, 
after the legendary king Ogyges ; in Argos, the Inachian, 
after King Inachns ; or it was called the flood of Deukalion, 
because he was the only man who survived. How Deuka- 
lion, son of Prometheus, and Pyrrha, daughter of Epime 
theus, became the parents of a new human race has already 
been related. 

Deukalion was succeeded in the rule of this new race by 
his son Hellen, who gave his name to the Hellenes. He had 
three sons, Azolos, Doros, and Xnthos ; and Xuthos had two 
sons, named Ion and Achaios. The posterity of Deukalion 
and Hellen divided the sovereignty between them, and the 
four principal Greek races, Dorians, Aiolians, Ionians and 
Achaians, were named after Doros, Aiolos, Ion and Achaios. 
These races occupied the country of Greece, and founded 
various kingdoms. As legendary rulers of these kingdoms 
we sometimes find descendants of the old race-kings, some- 
times younger heroes and sons of gods, from whom the actual 
later' princes claimed descent. The Dorian Heraklidai, foi 
instance, claimed descent from Herakles, and through him 
from Zeus, 



180 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

II. THE AGE OF THE EARLIER HEROES. 

Most of the hero-legends of this age belong to separate 
districts and tribes of Greece, but the myth of Herakles may 
be called Hellenic, for although it proceeds from a definite 
locality, the poets have made it the common property of the 
Greek race as a whole. We have also to consider the myths 
of adventures joined in by bands of heroes, such as the expe- 
dition of the Argonauts and the Hunt of the Kalydonian 
boar. 

Local Hero Myths. 



At the head of the race of heroes stands the river-god 
Inachos, whose daughter, or grand-daughter, was the beautiful 
To. She was beloved by Zeus, and was changed into a cow in 
order that she might escape the persecution of Hera. After 
Io's guardian, the hundred-eyed Argos, had been slain by 
Hermes Hera sent a huge gad-fly to torment the cow, and to 
drive her through the whole world without pause. At last 
lo came to Egypt, where she found refuge, took her human 
form again and became the mother of Epaphos. One of the 
children of Epaphos was the maiden Libya, beloved by the 
sea-god Poseidon, by whom she became the mother of Agenor 
and Belos. Belos and Anchinoe are the parents of Aigyp- 
tos, Danaos, Kepheus and Phineus. Aigyptos ruled over 
the land which bore his name, but Danaos received from his 
father the dominion over Libya, named from the daughter of 
Epaphos. Danaos had several wives, who bore him fifty 
daughters, the Danaides. Because the fifty sons of Aigyptos 
ceaselessly persecuted Danaos' daughters with their suit, 
the latter, at command of Athene, built the first ship of fifty 

1 4^schylus, " Iketides " ; " Prometheus Vinctus," 



VI. j THE DAN AIDES 181 

oars, and escaped with his daughters over the sea to Argos, 
whence his race had in earlier times been expelled. 

At that time Gelanor, a descendant of a younger son oflna- 
chos, was ruling in Argos. Danaos demanded the sovereignty, 
was elected as ruler by the people, and their choice was con- 
firmed by an omen from the gods. Thus Danaos became 
king of Argos. He was highly honoured as a benefactor, for 
he made wells so deep that they did not dry up in the 
hottest summer, and canals to irrigate the land and make it 
fruitful. 

But his brother's sons, the fifty Aigyptiadai, followed him 
across the sea once more, and Danaos, although he mistrusted 
them and bore them a grudge, dared not refuse their 
demands, so he consented to marry his daughters to them. 
Then, giving to each of his daughters a sword, he commanded 
them to murder their husbands in secret on the night of their 
marriage. The daughters obeyed the cruel command, and 
were condemned for this crime to endless penance in Hades. 
One only, Hypermnestra, disobeyed, and spared her husband 
Lynkeus, out of love to him. Being accused by her father 
before a court of justice she was acquitted. She remained 
the wife of Lynkeus, and became by him mother of Abas, 
the father of Akrisios and Proitos. 

In spite of their black deed of murder, the other Dana'ides 
were again sought in marriage by a number of noble suitors, 
who flocked together to compete for them in the Games 
which Danaos instituted. From these marriages sprang 
famous races of heroes. One of the Dana'ides, Amymone, 
had borne to Poseidon two sons, Nauplios, afterwards father 
of Palamedes, and Oiax, both of them well-known heroes of 
the Trojan war. 

To return to Lynkeus and Hypermnestra. Their son Abas 
married the Arkadian nymph Okaleia, became a doughty 



i§2 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

warrior, and founded the town of Abai in Phokis, from which 
the brave Abantes colonized Euboia. The two sons of Abas, 
Akrisios and Proitos, were enemies from their childhood. 
When they were grown, Akrisios drove Proitos from his 
home. Proitos fled to Lykia, married Stheneboia, the king's 
daughter, and, with the aid of an army provided by his 
father-in-law, reinstated himself in his native land, where he 
built the city of Tiryns, and ruled over Argos and Corinth. 

Proitos had three beautiful daughters, who offended the 
gods by their arrogance and pride. They were punished 
with a terrible disease which destroyed their reason, and 
one of them slew herself by leaping from a high rock. The 
other two were healed by the famous seer and physician 
Melampus, 1 from Pylos, whose ears snakes had licked while 
he was asleep, so that henceforth he could understand the 
flight of birds and interpret their speech. Melampus and his 
brother Bias married the two Proitides. Their children, 
Adrastos and Amphiaraos, Kapaneus and Eteokles, became 
famous heroes, and took part in the expedition against Thebes. 

When Proitos came again into his kingdom, he handed 
over to Akrisios the old city Argos and part of the surround- 
ing country. Akrisios married Eurydike, daughter of Lake- 
daimoii, and had one daughter, Dana'e. It had been 
prophesied to King Akrisios that he should die by the hand 
of his daughter's son. In order to frustrate the fulfilment of 
this prediction, he forced his daughter to remain unmarried, 
and shut her up in a secure underground prison, but Zeus 
loved the unhappy maiden, and in the form of a shower of 
gold he penetrated to her dungeon. So Danae became in 
secret the mother of Perseus. 

When Akrisios knew that his daughter had borne a son, he 

{Apollodoros, i. g, II. 
Odyssey, xv. 225. 



vi.] PERSEUS 183 

was terrified, and determined to kill both Danae and her babe. 
So he shut them both up in a great wooden chest, and threw 
them into the sea. But Zeus would not let his son perish. 
The chest drifted on the waves, and was stranded on the 
island of Seriphos, where the fisherman Diktys drew it in 
with his net. Diktys brought the mother and child to his 
brother, Polydektes, king of the island, who determined to 
bring Perseus up as his own son and to marry Danae. When 
his suit was refused, he was very angry, and in order to bend 
Danae to his wishes he made her a slave, and caused her to 
be cruelly treated. When Perseus grew to manhood, Poly- 
dektes wished to remove him, so that Danae might be com- 
pletely in his power. He therefore sent him to the Gorgons 
to fetch the head of Medusa, an adventure so dangerous, that 
he supposed Perseus would perish. Perseus was provided 
with an invisible cap, the gift of A'ides, and with winged 
sandals. Led by Hermes and Athene, he went first to the 
Graiai, the sisters of the Gorgons, and by taking away from 
them their single eye, he forced them to tell him the way. 
Holding in his hand a bright polished shield, in which he 
could see the reflected image of Medusa, he approached her 
while she was asleep and cut off her head with a scimitar. 
Then he hastened away, and as he wore the invisible cap, 
Medusa's sisters could not pursue him. When he had re- 
turned in safety he gave the head of Medusa to his patroness, 
Athene, who fastened the dreadful freezing horror on her 
shield. But this was at the end of his journey. Before 
he could return he must travel through many lands, and 
accomplish many brave deeds. When King Atlas denied 
him hospitality, Perseus held the head of the Gorgon up 
before him, and turned him into a rock. In Egypt Perseus 
had another adventure. Kassiopeia, wife of King Kephens, 
had had the effrontery to compare her beauty with that of 



1 84 MYTHS OF HEROES |cha!>. 

the Nereids. The enraged sea divinities persuaded Poseidon 
to send out of the sea a dreadful monster which laid waste 
the coast of Kepheus' kingdom, and killed men and animals. 
The king went in despair to the Oracle, to ask how the angry 
gods were to be appeased, and received as answer the com- 
mand to sacrifice his only daughter Andromeda to the 
monster. The unhappy girl Avas fettered to a barren rock on 
the shore and left to become the sea-beast's prey. Just as the 
monster approached Perseus came flying through the air ; 
he slew the beast and turned it to stone, freed the fair 
Andromeda, and married her. 

Then Perseus went back to Seriphos and rescued his 
mother Danae from the shameful slavery in which Poly- 
dektes had kept her. Polydektes himself he slew with all his 
guests, while they were seated at a great feast, and turned 
them all to stone. He did not remain long in Seriphos, but 
returned to his ancestral home of Argos with his mother 
Danae and his wife Andromeda. Proitos, brother of Akrisios, 
had again attempted to usurp the rule of Argos, but Perseus 
made war upon him, and forced him to yield the sovereignty 
to the rightful king, Akrisios. Shortly after this, as Perseus 
was throwing the quoit, he had the misfortune to slay 
Akrisios by misadventure, and thus the words of the oracle 
were fulfilled. Perseus succeeded Akrisios as ruler of Tiryns, 
but he removed his royal residence to Mycense, leaving the 
lordship over Argos to Megapenthes, son of Proitos. After 
his death he was worshipped as a god in Seriphos, Athens, 
and especially in Argos. Among the sons whom Andro- 
meda bore to him, Elektryon and Alkaios were the most 
famous. Amphitryon, son of Alkaios, was married to Alk- 
mene, daughter of Elektryon. Herakles was the son of 
Zeus and Alkmene. 



vi.J SISYPHOS AND BELLEROPHON 185 

2. Corinth. 

At the time of Proitos Corinth was under the rule of 
Argos. The first important figure whom we meet there is 
Sisyphos, son of that Aiolos of whom we have already spoken 
as son of Hellen and ancestor of the Aiolians. Sisyphos is a 
notorious criminal and traitor. When Zeus carried off 
Aigina, the beautiful daughter of Asopos, Sisyphos betrayed 
him. Zeus wished to slay Sisyphos, but Sisyphos refused to 
follow Thanatos, the death-god, who came to take him away, 
and threw him into a deep dungeon. For a long time Hades' 
kingdom received no accessions, but at last Ares freed Thana- 
tos and gave Sisyphos up to him to suffer eternal torment in 
the underworld for his crime. 

Glaukos z was the son of Sisyphos. When he was driving 
in a chariot race, his horses took fright and he was thrown, 
dragged along the ground and dashed to pieces. He left a 
son, Bellerophon, 2 who went to the court of Proitos in the 
bloom of his youthful beauty. Stheneboia, the king's wife, 
fell violently in love Avith him, and when she saw that her 
passion was not requited, she slandered him to her husband, 
and so excited his rage that he determined on Bellerophon's 
death. He sent the youth to carry a letter to Iobates, king 
of Lykia, his own father-in-law. This letter contained secret 
instructions that the youth was to be slain. Bellerophon 
went to Lykia without suspicion, and there Iobates laid such 
dangerous tasks on him that he might easily have perished 
while fulfilling them. But the gods had not forgotten him, 
and sent him the winged horse Pegasos, whose manege 
Athene herself taught him. Mounting high in the air, he 
slew the Ch'maira, a dreadful monster with three heads, of 

1 Iliad, vi. 154; Apollodoros, i. 9, 3. 
■ Homer, Iliad, vi. 155. 



1 86 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

a goat, a lion and a snake, which could run like the wind, 
and slew all whom it met with its fiery breath. 

Bellerophon also defeated many enemies who threatened 
the kingdom of Iobates. Among these were the Amazons, 
a nation of women, skilled in all warlike exercises from their 
youth, and able to hold their own against the strongest oppo- 
nents, even against Theseus and Herakles. These Amazons 
were said to live in the far East, many stories are told about 
them, and their wars with heroes are represented in many 
works of art. In the Trojan war they were led by their queen, 
Penthesilea, to the aid of the besieged against the Greeks. 

At last Iobates tried to entice the brave Bellerophon into 
an ambush, so that he might be slain, but by the help of the 
gods the hero escaped. He even succeeded in winning the 
love and trust of the king in such a high degree, that he gave 
him his daughter to wife and half his kingdom. Bellero- 
phon lived a long and happy life surrounded by his blooming 
children. Once more he returned to Tiryns to revenge him- 
self on Stheneboia. She was induced to mount the steed 
Pegasos, to flee, as she supposed, with Bellerophon, but the 
hero threw her into the sea, where she perished. 

But Bellerophon's great good luck became a curse to him. 
He grew so haughty that he even conceived the impious idea 
of flying on his steed up to Olympos. Roused to anger by 
such impiety, Zeus hurled his thunderbolt. Bellerophon 
perished, and his name served to point the moral of fallen 
pride. 

3. THEBES. 

Thebes, in Bceotia, whose foundation is ascribed to 
Kadmos, is the scene of some of the most beautiful of the 

I Sophocles, " QEdipus Rex." 
Euripides, " Phcenissae." 
Moschus, I. "Europa." 



EUROPA 187 



hero myths. Kadmos was son of the Phoenician king, 
Agenor, who was a son of Poseidon and Libya. His beautiful 
sister, Eicropa, from whom our continent takes its name, was 
a favourite of Zeus. In order to carry off the maiden, Zeus 
changed himself into a lordly bull of tawny hue, and in this 
form approached the king's daughter as she was walking in 
a flowery meadow near the sea. Europa was pleased with 
the animal, caressed him, and when he lay quietly down in 
the grass she playfully seated herself on his back. Then 
the bull leaped up, rushed into the sea, and swam with the 
maiden to Gortys, in the island of Krete, where Zeus took 
his true shape again. 

Meantime, there was grief in the house of Agenor at the 
loss of the princess, and Kadmos was sent out to seek her. 
After a long and vain search, he came to the oracle of 
Apollo in Delphi, and asked where he should find his 
sister. The Oracle, in reply, commanded him to give up the 
search, to follow the first cow he should meet, and to found 
a city on the spot where she should lie down. This city was 
to be the Kadmeia, later called Thebes, and the country in 
which it was built was called Boeotia, the land of oxen. 

Kadmos followed the cow, and she guided him to the 
fateful spot, but he had many adventures before he could 
found the city. 

To show his thankfulness to the gods, he wished to 
sacrifice the cow who had been his guide, and sent his 
companions to fetch lustral water for the rite at a well 
sacred to Ares. But a terrible dragon who guarded the well 
slew them. Kadmos himself, under protection of Athene, 
attacked and conquered the dragon, and taking the teeth 
of the defeated monster he sowed them in the earth. From 
this wondrous seed sprang armed men, who slew each other 
in bloody fight. Only five escaped the slaughter, and they 



1 88 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

remained true to Kadmos, and helped him in building his city. 
They were called Spartdi, " the sowed," and from them the 
noblest families of Thebes traced their descent. The citadel 
of the town retained the name Kadmeia till very late times. 

Now the dragon which Kadmos had killed was the sacred 
snake of Ares. To expiate the sacrilege of its slaughter, and 
to appease the angry god, Kadmos must serve him full eight 
years ; at the end of that time Zeus gave him to wife 
Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. All the gods 
came to the wedding, bringing rich presents for the bridal 
pair, and thus showing their interest in the city of Thebes. 
Harmonia bore to Kadmos one son, Polydoros, and four 
daughters, Autonoe, Ino, Semele and Agave. Autonoe 
married Aristaios, and their son was Aktaion. Because he 
once happened to surprise Artemis in the bath, he was 
changed by the goddess into a stag and, torn to pieces by his 
own hounds. Ino was married to Athamas, who, being 
seized by madness, killed his eldest son and pursued 
his wife till she sprang from a high cliff into the sea in order 
to escape from him. She became a sea-goddess, and was 
called Leukothea. Semele, the mother of Dionyos, was slain 
by the thunderbolt of Zeus. By Echion, one of the five 
Spartai, Agave became the mother of Pentheus, King of 
Thebes, who was cruelly slain by the Mainads because he 
had forbidden the worship of Dionysos. The rule of Thebes 
was transferred to Labdakos, son of Polydoros. 

In his old age, Kadmos was forced to flee to Illyria to 
escape the persecution of his enemies. After a long life of 
great prosperity, alternated with heavy griefs, Kadmos and 
his faithful wife Harmonia' died. He was worshipped at 
Thebes with almost divine honours as inventor of agricul- 
ture, maker of the first canals for irrigation, teacher of the 
art of writing and founder of the city. 



vi.] KADMOS AND HARMONIA 1S9 

" Far, far from here, 
The Adriatic breaks in a warm bay 
Among the green Illyrian hills, and there 
The sunshine in the happy glens is fair, 
And by the sea, and in the brakes, 
The grass is cool, the sea-side air 
Buoyant and fresh, the mountain flowers 
Mure virginal and sweet than ours. 

And there, they say, two bright and aged snakes, 

Who once were Cadmus and Harmonia, 

Bask in the glens or on the warm sea-shore, 

In breathless quiet, after all their ills, 

Nor do they see their country, nor the place 

Where the Sphinx lived among the frowning hills, 

Nor the unhappy palace of their race, 

Nor Thebes, nor the Ismenus, any more." 1 

At the time of the death of Kadmos and the flight of 
Pentheus, his grandson, Labdakos, was still under age : 
therefore the rule of Thebes passed to Nykteus. By Thebe, 
goddess of the town, Nykteus had a daughter, Antiope, whom 
Zeus secretly loved. When Nykteus knew this he wished 
to kill his daughter, but she fled to a lonely wilderness on 
Mount Kithairon, where she bore twins, and afterwards took 
refuge with King Epopeus of Sikyon, leaving her little sons, 
Amphion and Zethos, with a shepherd who was keeping 
sheep on Mount Kithairon, and who brought them up as 
peasants, unknowing of their parentage. In Sikyon Antiope 
found a refuge only for a short time. Her father, Nykteus, 
persecuted her even there, and after his death his brother 
Lykos, who succeeded to the regency of Thebes during the 
minority of Labdakos, took Sikyon and brought Antiope back 
to Thebes. There she had to suffer from the jealousy of 
Dirke, wife of Lykos, who tormented her in every way, made 
her a slave, and gave her the most menial work to do. For 

1 M. Arnold. 



igo MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

many years Antiope patiently bore her hard lot, but, finding at 
last that Dirke was planning to take her life, she escaped, 
and returned to Mount Kithairon, where her sons received 
her hospitably, without, however, recognizing her. Soon 
after, Dirke came to Mount Kithairon to be present ataBacchic 
festival, and seeing her former slave, she resolved to put her to 
a cruel death. She therefore commanded the two supposed 
shepherds, Amphion and Zethos, to fetch the wildest bull 
of their herd, to bind Antiope to his horns, and let the mad 
creature drag her to death. The youths were just about to 
bind the unhappy woman, when the old shepherd who had 
brought them up recognized Antiope, and told them that 
she was their mother. Amphion and Zethos, bitterly en- 
raged against Dirke for the long sufferings she had inflicted 
on Antiope, and for her intention to make them the 
murderers of their own mother, seized her, bound her in 
Antiope's stead to the bull and caused her to be dragged to 
death. When she died she was turned into a spring, which 
bore her name. 

The two brothers now entered on their dominion and 
built a rampart round the lower town, as Kadmos had already 
done round the citadel. Amphion married Niobe, daughter 
of Tantalos, of whose rivalry with the gods and punish- 
ment we have already told. After their death, Amphion 
and Zethos became protecting divinities of the town, and the 
rule passed to Labdakos. No important event is connected 
with his reign, but the legends of his son Laws and his 
grandson Oidipotis \CEdipus) are very famous. 

Laws married lokaste, daughter of Menoikeus, who bore 
a son called (Mdipus. Laios having heard a prophecy that 
he should die by the hand of his own son, cut the sinews of 
the child's ankles, and exposed it in the forest of Kithairon. 
The boy was found by some shepherds and brought to King 



vi-1 OIDIPOUS 191 

Polybos of Corinth, whose childless wife welcomed him and 
brought him up as her own son. When CEdipus was grown, 
he inquired of the Oracle about his parents, and received for 
answer the command to keep away from his native land, lest 
he should become the slayer of his father and the husband of 
his mother. Now CEdipus thought that Polybos was hisfather. 
He therefore left the court of Corinth and travelled to a 
distance, and when he was going through a hollow way, he met 
his real father, Laios. Strife arose between the two companies, 
and when Laios interfered he was slain by his son. CEdipus, 
not knowing what a crime he had committed, journeyed on to 
Thebes. There he found terror and consternation, for the 
Sphinx, a monster half woman, half lion, was devastating 
the country. She gave to every passer-by a riddle, and if he 
could not guess it she slew him. This was the riddle : 
" Four-legged in the morning, two-legged at mid-day, three- 
legged in the evening." CEdipus went to meet the monster 
and guessed the riddle at once, on which the Sphinx threw 
herself down from her rock, and the land had rest. CEdipus 
received from the Thebans the promised reward — namely, the 
hand of Iocaste, widow of Laios, and the rule over Thebes. 

Thus CEdipus, all unknowing, had fulfilled the prophecy, 
and after murdering his father had become the husband ot 
his own mother. She bore him four children, Eteokles, 
Polyneikes, Antigone and Ismene. But although CEdipus 
had transgressed unwittingly, the anger of the gods followed 
him. Misfortunes befel the land, and when the Oracle was 
asked for help, the whole secret was revealed. Iocaste slew 
herself in remorse, CEdipus put out his own eyes and went 
into exile, followed by the curses of his subjects, and attended 
only by his daughter Antigone. The vengeance of the gods 
was not yet sated, but was to be fulfilled later on CEdipus' 
two sons, Eteokles and Polyneikes, who succeeded him as 



192 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

rulers of Thebes and lived in continual enmity with each 
other. This moving tale is the subject of many poems. 
The tragedies of JEschyhis and Sophocles, especially, present 
the fates of the house of Laios. 

J THESSALY. 1 

The Centaur Cheiion is a strange figure who occurs con- 
stantly in heroic myth in connection with famous men. He 
did not belong to the race which fought with Peirithoos and 
the Lapithai. He was the most righteous of all the Cen- 
taurs, and was considered by the ancients to be a famous 
physician, seer, astrologer and musician. Cheiron lived in a 
cave on Mount Pelion, and Achilles, Asklepios, Herakles 
and many other famous Greeks were sent to him to be 
taught. Peleus was his friend ; to him he gave his terrible 
spear made of ash from Mount Pelion. The Argonauts visited 
him and even Orpheus consented to compete with him in 
music. Chancing to be present at a fight between Herakles 
and the Centaurs, Cheiron tried to make peace, and was 
wounded by a poisoned arrow. The wound was incurable, 
therefore Cheiron went willingly to death, in order, as one 
legend says, to free Prometheus from his sufferings. After 
his death he was placed in the heavens as a constellation, 
and named " The Archer." (Fig. 43.) 

In the earliest legends, up to the time of Homer, the 
Centaurs were not half brutes. They were only known as 
gigantic, savage, and ferocious men inhabiting the Thessa- 
lian forests. They were always engaged in bloody wars with 
the Lapiths, and thus in art they sometimes symbolize the 
struggle of Greek civilization with the remnants of primitive 
races, and the final absorption or conquest of the latter. 

1 W. Mannhzrdt, " Wald-und Feldkulte" (Alte Peleis). 



VI.] 



THE CENTAURS 



193 



According to the myth, Centaurs and Lapiths lived as 
peaceful neighbours till the war began at the wedding of 




Fig. 43. Centaur \Capitol, Home). 

Pezrztkoos, Theseus' friend. At the feast the wild Centaur 

Enrytos tried to carry off the bride, Hippodamia. The 

14 



194 



MYTHS OF HEROES 



[chap. 



Lapiths resisted ; Theseus, Nestor and the giant Kaineus 



J*#«l 








■'■/■ 




Fig. 44. Young Centaur [Capitol, Rome). 

came to their aid, and after a desperate fight the Centaurs 
were completely overthrown. But Kaineus, although he 



VI.] KEKROPS 195 

had been made invulnerable by Poseidon, was slain, for the 
Centaurs piled tree-stumps and masses of rock upon him, so 
that he was suffocated. 

Two types of the Centaur were developed by art. In 
one he is represented as a man with the hind-quarters of a 
horse growing on to his back ; z in the other he has the 
horse body with four legs, and a human trunk, head and 
arms. (Fig. 44.) 

5. ATTICA. 2 

The Attic people, like the Theban Spartai, believed that 
they were sprung from the soil, and had originally been 
ruled over by earth-born kings. There was a later tradition 
about a settlement from Egypt, connected with the name 
of Kekrops. He was said to have been received hospitably 
in Attica by King Aktaios, to have married his daughter, 
and succeeded him as ruler of Attica. But the earlier 
story made Kekrops, like all the Attic kings before him, 
a son of Ge, the Earth. His autochthonous, earth-born 
nature is symbolized in art by his serpent's tail, in which 
he resembles the giants. After Kekrops had secured the 
borders of Attica against the raids of the Boeotians, he 
founded the Kekropeia, or citadel, which formed the nucleus 
of the city dedicated to the goddess Athene. Kekrops made 
great advance in civilization by dividing the country into 
twelve townships, and introducing civic order. He was also 
a religious lawgiver, erected altars to Pallas Athene, and 
instituted priests and sacrifices. The decision of the contest 
between Athene and Poseidon was ascribed to him. 

1 Corinthian Skyphos, Paris ; published in ' ' Histoire de la Ceramique 
Grecque " (Rayet et Collignon), p. 55. 
I Euripides, "Ion." 
1 Toepffer, " Attische genealogie." 



196 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

The Kekropides, daughters of Kekrops, were called Herse, 
Aglauros and Pandrosos. Herse bore Keryx to Hermes, 
and from him the Attic priestly castle of Kerykes (heralds) 
traced its origin. Aglauros and Ares were the parents of 
Alkippe, whom Halirrothios, son of Poseidon, loved. Halir- 
rothios was slain by Ares, and this murder was said to be 
the first cause tried by the court of the Areopagos. The 
third sister, Pandrosos, remained unmarried, and became 
priestess of the virgin goddess, Athene. The myth of how 
the Kekropides met their end is as follows : Athene had 
concealed Erichthonios, son of Hephaistos and Ge, in a chest, 
and had given the chest to the Kekropides with strict 
orders not to open it. Pandrosos obeyed, but her two sisters, ■ 
not being able to restrain their curiosity, opened the chest. 
When they saw the child in the form of a snake they were 
seized with madness, and threw themselves down from the 
Acropolis rock. The faithful sister, Pandrosos, was made 
immortal, and became a companion of Athene. 1 

When Erichthonios was grown he became king, and 
founded the Panathenaic festival. He had a son, Pandwn, 
whose children were Erechtheus, Philomela and Prokne. 
Erechtheus and his daughter Chthoma gave up their lives 
in a war between Attica and Eleusis, after which Eleusis 
came under Attic rule. With him the stock of Kekrops 
became extinct, and the rule of Attica passed to Ion, son 
of Apollo, who had been the Athenians' ally in their war 
against Eumolpos of Eleusis. Erechtheus and Erichthonios 
are properly one and the same, but the poets of a later period 
separated their two aspects and made them father and son. 

The following is the myth of the sisters of Erechtheus. 
Tereus, king of Thrace, having given aid to Pandion in 

1 See "Mythological Studies," I., by J. E. Harriso in the Journal of 
Hellenic Studies, October, 189 1. 



vi.] PROKNE AND PHILOMELA 197 

his war against Labdakos of Thebes, received as a reward 
the hand of the king's daughter, Prokne. Their son was 
Itys or Itylos. Tereus being desirous to wed Philomela 
also, carried her off on the pretext that her sister was dead. 
When Philomela discovered the truth and threatened to 
reveal Tereus's crime, he cut out her tongue and hid her in 
a thicket in Parnassos. Prokne knew nothing of her sister's 
sufferings or concealment, therefore Philomela embroidered 
on a garment the story of her wrongs and sent the web to 
Prokne. By this means the sisters met, and they made a 
compact to take vengeance on Tereus. They slew Itys, 
and placed his flesh before his father as food ; but when 
Tereus, having discovered the deed, was about to slay both 
sisters with an axe, all three were changed into birds — Tereus 
into the hoopoe, Prokne into the swallow, and Philomela 
into the nightingale, who sings to her sister : — 

" O swallow, sister, O rapid swallow, 
I pray thee sing not a little space. 

Are not the roofs and the lintels wet ? 
The woven web that ^vas plain to follow, 
The small slain body, the flower-like face, 
Can I remember if thou forget?" * 

The other daughters of Erechtheus were Oreithyia and 
Prokris, whose stories have already been told. 

When the male line of Kekrops was extinct, and when 
Pandion II., a pretended son of Erechtheus, had been 
banished to Megara, Ion became king of Athens. He was 
son of Kreousa, daughter of Erechtheus, and of Apollo. 2 As 
a new-born infant he was exposed, and disappeared, no one 
knew whither. His mother, Kreousa, married Xuthus, and 

1 A. C. Swinburne. 

2 See "Ion " of Euripides, translated and edited by A. W. Verrall. 



193 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

as they had no children they went to the Oracle of Delphi 
to inquire whether they were to have offspring. The Oracle 
commanded them to adopt as their son the first youth they 
should meet. This was Ion, the young temple-servant, so 
Xuthus obeyed the command of the Oracle, and took Ion as 
his son. One version of the legend calls Ion the real son of 
Xuthus. When Xuthus died he left his kingdom to Ion, 
and his other son by Kreousa, Achaios, became the ancestor 
of the Achaians. 

According to another legend Pandion was driven out of 
Athens by the sons of Metion, and took refuge with King 
Pylos in Megara, where he adopted Aigens as his son. After 
the death of Pandion, Aigeus and his brothers, Pallas, Nisos ■ 
and Lykos, marched to Attica, drove out the sons of Metion, 
and divided the kingdom among themselves. 



6. Crete. 

After Zeus, in the form of a tawny bull, had carried off 
Europa, the beautiful daughter of King Agenor, and had 
brought her to Crete, she became the mother of three 
famous sons, Minos, Rhadamanthos and Sarpedon. Rhada- 
manthos travelled over the western islands to Bceotia, where 
he was held in high honour as a wise law-giver and judge, 
and where he married Alkmene, mother of Herakles. After 
death he became judge in the underworld. Sarpedon founded 
a mighty dominion in Lykia, and Crete fell to the share 
of the eldest brother, Minos. He is the representative of 
law, order and authority, and the legends connected with 
his name show that the prosperity and greatness of Crete 
were distinguished even in early times. These legends were 
so many and so important that it seemed impossible to 
ascribe them all to one hero. People therefore supposed 



vi.J MINOS 199 

that there were two kings of the same name, and the second 
was called grandson of the first and son of Lykastos. 

King Minos was known for his severe righteousness. The 
wise laws which he gave his people were communicated to 
him by Zeus in his own person. Once in nine years Minos 
retreated to a sacred cave, where he received from the 
supreme god new laws and instructions. He, like his 
brother, entered after death on the office of judge of the 
underworld. 

Minos encouraged ship-building, and was himself a famous 
admiral, who sailed the seas to extend and defend his 
dominions. Under his protection trade and commerce 
flourished. But he committed a grievous fault against his 
patron Poseidon ; he stole the sacred bull which Poseidon 
had sent from the sea, and instead of sacrificing it to the 
god, as he had promised, he kept it among his own herds. 
As a punishment Poseidon caused Pasiphae, wife of Minos, 
to bear instead of a child a monster, half-bull, half-man, 
called the Minotaur. She had already borne to the king two 
daughters, Ariadne and Phaidra. Minos shut the Minotaur 
up in a large building consisting of innumerable subter- 
ranean chambers and dark winding ways. This building 
was a work of Daidalos the Athenian artificer, and was 
called the Labyrinth. Any one who once entered it could 
never find his way out, but became the prey of the Minotaur. 
Minos used to send all criminals into this dungeon. 

The marine dominion of Minos was so extended that he 
even subdued some kings in Greece. Aigeus, King of 
Athens, had slain Androgeos, son of Minos, out of jealousy, 
because, coming as a stranger youth to Athens, he had 
excelled in the Games. To avenge the death of his son 
Minos took Megara by cunning and treachery, and blockaded 
Athens. The inhabitants, being hard pressed by hunger 



MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 



and disease, were forced to make terms, and promised to 
send to Crete every eighth year an offering of seven 
maidens and seven youths to be thrown as prey to the 
Minotaur. Theseus, son of Aigeus, freed Athens from this 
dreadful and shameful tax. 

The death of Minos is connected with the legend of 
Daidalos, builder of 'the Labyrinth. 

Daidalos was born in Athens, and was a famous craftsman 
and artist. His nephew and pupil, Talos., was dowered with 
such skill by the gods that he equalled and almost surpassed 
his master. So Daidalos was seized with bitter envy, and 
once, when he was .alone with Talos, he treacherously 
threw him from a rock so that he died. Daidalos escaped 
punishment by fleeing to Crete. There he made many 
works of art, and was highly esteemed by Minos, and yet 
he longed to return to his native land. Minos would not 
allow him to leave Crete, because he could not do without 
his services as an architect and sculptor ; and when Daidalos 
and his son Ikaros tried to escape across the sea, Minos 
overtook them with his swift ships and put them under 
guard. And now Daidalos' art stood him in good stead. 
He made artificial wings for himself and his son, and by 
their aid they got safely across the sea to Sicily. But the 
gods took vengeance on Daidalos for the murder of Talos. 
Ikaros, in flying through the air, in spite of his father's 
warning, went too near the sun. The wax which fastened 
the feathers of his wings was melted, and before Daidalos 
could rescue him he fell into the sea, afterwards called 
Ikarian in memory of him. Minos hastened after Daidalos, 
and at last found him in Sicily. He was received with 
apparent friendliness, but by Daidalos' order was suffocated 
in a hot bath. 



M.J PELOPS 



7. ELIS AND ARGOS. 

Before turning to the principal heroes, Herakles and 
Theseus, we must speak of Pelops? who is not only an 
important figure in himself, but the ancestor of a long line 
of heroes who became the victims of a tragic destiny. Pelops 
was a son of Tantalos, a brother of Niobe, the unhappy wife 
of Amphion of Thebes. Tantalos himself was so beloved 
by the gods that they even admitted him to their table in 
Olympos, but he betrayed their confidence, revealed the 
secrets of Olympos to men, stole nectar and ambrosia, and 
on one occasion, when the gods were his guests, placed 
before them, as a test of their omniscience, the flesh of 
Pelops, his son, whom he had cruelly slaughtered. The gods 
at once discovered the crime. They brought Pelops to life 
again, but sent the cruel father to the underworld, where he 
had to suffer grievous torments. 

Pelops grew up among the gods, and then was allowed to 
return to earth. After wandering for a long time through 
Phrygia he came to Elis in the southern part of Greece, 
founded a kingdom there, and became a benefactor to his 
subjects by giving them good laws and institutions. The 
whole southern peninsular of Greece was supposed to have 
taken its name, Peloponnesus, from him. When Pelops 
came to Elis Oinomaos, a son of Ares, was king, and he had 
one daughter, Hippodameia. An oracle had told the king- 
that he should perish by means of his son-in-law, and there- 
fore in order to postpone the marriage of his daughter 
he promised her hand to any one who should beat him in a 
chariot-race. Now, Oinomaos had very swift horses, and was 
a skilful and crafty driver, so that no one had ever been able 
to overcome him. The unsuccessful suitors he put to death 

' E. Thraemer, ." Pergamos " (Tantalos, p. 84). 



202 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

by a thrust of the spear. Pelops was undaunted by the 
danger of the enterprize, and became a suitor for Hippo- 
dameia's hand ; the gods were on his side, and Poseidon 
gave him a golden chariot and wind-swift horses, with which 
he won the race and the hand of Hippodameia. It is related 
that Myrtilos, the charioteer of the king, being bribed before 
the start by Pelops, loosened a wheel of Oinomaos' chariot, 
so that it was overturned in mid course and dashed to pieces. 
When Myrtilos demanded a reward for his treachery, Pelops 
threw him from a steep cliff into the sea. As he died, 
Myrtilos cursed Pelops and all his house, and this curse was 
fulfilled in the sufferings and calamities of later generations. 
In the eastern pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia 
was represented the preparation for the contest between 
Pelops and Oinomaos. 

Pelops was famous for his revival of the Olympian Games, 
which he celebrated with great brilliancy and splendour. 
After his death he was worshipped with yearly underworld 
sacrifices by the inhabitants of Elis, in a temple in the sacred 
grove of Olympia. 

The sons of Pelops, called Pelopidai, had to feel the 
effects of Myrtilos' curse. Misfortune began with the 
murder of Chryszftftos, Pelops' favourite son, by his brothers 
Atreus and Thyestes, who were banished for their crime. 
Atreus came to Mykenai, the royal residence of Argos, 
where his brother-in-law, King Sthenelos, son of Perseus 
and Andromeda, lived. When Eurystheus, son of Sthenelos, 
fell in battle, Atreus came to the throne and founded a new 
dynasty. His sons were Agamemnon, leader of the expedi- 
tion against Troy, and Menelaos, King of Sparta, whose wife 
Helena was taken away by Paris, son of Priam, of Troy, and 
thus gave occasion to the Trojan war. 

Atreus' brother, Thyestes, had come to Mykenai with 



VI.] ATREUS AND THYESTES 203 

him, but he was forced to leave the country because he 
wished to corrupt the wife of Atreus. Thyestes had brought 
up Pleisthenes, son of Atreus, as his own son, and for the 
sake of revenge he sent him to Mykenai to murder Atreus. 
Atreus discovered the design, and slew Pleisthenes, not 
knowing that he was his son. He then invited his brother 
Thyestes to return, as if he wished to be reconciled, but 
when Thyestes came, Atreus made a meal for him of the 
flesh of his two sons, and when he had eaten, showed him 
their hands and heads. Thyestes fled in horror, and even 
the sun-god is said to have shuddered at the deed, and 
turned his course aside. Famine and distress came on 
Argos, and an oracle commanded that Thyestes should be 
brought back. After a long search he was found, brought 
to Argos, and shut in a dungeon. At last Atreus tried to 
bribe Aigisthos, son of Thyestes, to kill his own father, but 
the vengeance of the gods overtook him, and he was himself 
slain by Aigisthos at a sacrifice. After Atreus' death, 
Agamemnon ascended the throne of Argos, and became the 
most powerful prince in Greece. Menelaos, by his marriage 
with Helena, became ruler of Sparta. 

8. Herakles. * 

Herakles is the great popular hero of Greece, and his 
exploits have remained famous down to modern times. 
The mythical history of his life, which contains a multitude 
of adventures, may be divided into four parts. 

(a) Birth and Youth. 

The parents of Herakles were Zeus and Alkmene, wife of 
King Amphitryon, who was son of Alkaios and grandson of 

{Euripides, " Hercules Furens." 
Ibid., "Herakles," erklart von U. v. Wilamowitz Mocllendorf. 



204 M YTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

Perseus. Hera had discovered that Alkmene was her rival 
in the favour of Zeus ; she therefore hated and persecuted 
her, and was an enemy of Herakles from his very birth. 
Zeus had sworn to Hera one day that whoever should be 
born before night should bear rule over all those about him. 
Hera therefore delayed the birth of Herakles, and caused 
Eurystheus, son of Sthenelos, to come into the world. 
Herakles was born later, and must be subject to Eurystheus. 
But Zeus made his son immortal in this wise ; he com- 
manded Hermes to bring the boy to Hera, and the goddess, 
pleased with his beauty, laid him at her breast, where 
Herakles sucked in immortality. When Hera knew who 
the child was, she flung him away in anger, and from the 
few drops of milk which fell was made the milky way, an 
endless cloud of constellations running in a white streak 
across the sky. 

While x still a child in the cradle, Herakles showed himself 
to be the son of a god. When Hera sent two snakes in the 
night to kill him Herakles seized them in sport and strangled 
them, while Iphikles, his brother, woke their parents with 
his cries. Amphitryon, step-father of Herakles, soon saw 
the divine nature in the child, and had him carefully taught 
by the most skilful masters all the arts which heroes must 
practise. Herakles made great progress, but developed a 
very violent temper, which overcame him to such an extent 
that he slew his master, Linos, who had taught him to play 
the lyre. After this Amphitryon sent him away from his 
court to feed flocks in the country, an occupation considered 
at that time by no means unworthy of a king's son. Herakles 
remained there till he was eighteen years old. 

Once during this sojourn, when Herakles was standing at a 
place where two ways met, two goddesses appeared to him. 

1 Theokritos, Idylls xxiv. and xxv. 



vi.J THE CHOICE OF HERAKLES 



One, who was beautiful and attractive, spoke kindly to him, 
and promised him freedom from all the cares and troubles 
of life, and the enjoyment of pleasures of every kind, if he 
would only follow her guidance. The other, more grave 
than beautiful, with a serious and modest air, promised him 
honour and fame among gods and men, if he would follow 
her and bravely undergo the toils and hardships of life. 
Herakles knew that the first was the goddess of pleasure, 
the second, of virtue. He remembered his divine origin 
and his high destiny, and in token of allegiance, gave his 
hand to virtue, thus 'dedicating himself to her for ever, and 
choosing of his own accord a hero's career. 

We must remember that modern and heroic ideals of 
virtue are very different. It was not damaging to the repu- 
tation of a hero to do many things which would now be 
considered as violations of justice and good faith. A hero 
was one who slew dangerous monsters and wild beasts, 
subdued lawless robbers, brought barren land under cultiva- 
tion, founded colonies or furthered in any way the culture 
and civilization of the men around him, even although he 
was not " virtuous " in the modern sense of the word. For 
such deeds of bravery Herakles was the most renowned of 
all heroes. His extraordinary strength and gigantic stature 
gave him great advantage in his exploits, and his active and 
magnanimous temper and quick determination made him 
enter without hesitation on any adventure on behalf of his 
fellow-men. But Herakles in spite of his valour was most 
unhappy. From his very birth he had to fight with evil 
fate, but, conscious of his power, he stood all trials, and was 
finally rewarded by a place among the Olympian gods and 
the hand of Hebe, the goddess of youth. 

Herakles gave the first proof of his bravery and strength 
by slaying a mighty lion, who was devouring the herds of 



206 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

Thestios, King of Thespiai, on Mount Kithairon. Then 
he freed his native city Thebes from a shameful tribute 
which had been imposed by the men of Orchomenos, and 
forced these lawless neighbours themselves to pay tribute 
to Thebes. These were the deeds of Herakles' freedom, to 
which succeeded the period of slavery under Eurystheus. 
King Kreon of Thebes, who succeeded Amphitryon, out 
of gratitude to Herakles gave him his daughter, Megara, 
to wife. Hera was jealous of the hero's fame, and visited 
him with madness, in consequence of which he killed the 
children whom Megara had borne to him. When he came 
to himself, he went in great remorse to the Oracle of Delphi, 
and was commanded to expiate the guilt of blood by enter- 
ing the service of Eurystheus., and performing the twelve 
labours which he should impose. 

(5) Service Under Eurystheus. 

After long and solitary meditation, Herakles resigned 
himself to obedience, went to Mykenai, and fulfilled the 
twelve tasks set him by Eurystheus. 

i. The Nemean lion was devastating the forests of 
Argolis, between Nemea and Kleonai, and no man could 
wound it. The hero seized the lion in his powerful arms, 
threw it down, and pressing on its body with his knees, 
strangled it with his hands. He then took off the invulner- 
able skin and hung it round his shoulders. 

2. The Hydra, a monstrous snake with a hundred heads, 
which always grew again when they were cut off, lived in 
the swamps of Lerna, in Argolis. She dragged men and 
beasts into her den and strangled them. Herakles and his 
comrade lolaos slew the monster ; as fast as Herakles had 
cut off one of the snake's heads with his sword, lolaos 
burned the stump with a firebrand, so that it could not 



vi.] SERVICE UNDER EURYSJHEUS. 207 

grow again. But when Eurystheus heard that Herakles 
had had the help of Iolaos in this adventure, he refused to 
reckon it as one of the twelve labours, and imposed a new 
one. Herakles dipped his arrows in the blood of the dead 
snake, and they became poisonous and absolutely fatal. 

3. And now the hero was commanded to catch the 
Keryneian stag, which was sacred to Artemis. This stag 
lived in the Keryneian Mountain, had brazen feet and golden 
horns, and was marvellously swift. After an unwearied and 
incessant chase of a year, Herakles overtook the swift-footed 
beast, seized it and brought it to Mykenai. The goddess 
Artemis was offended, but he appeased her by the excuse 
that he had only acted by command of King Eurystheus. 

4. The Ery.manthian boar devastated the plains of 
Thessaly round Mount Erymanthos. This monster had 
resisted all attacks, but when Herakles came, it fled before 
him to the heights of the snow-covered mountains, and 
there he caught it. When Eurystheus saw the boar, he 
was so terrified that he crept into a cask to hide himself. 

While Herakles was on the way to catch the boar, he came 
to the woodland cave where his friend, the Centaur Pholos, 
lived. Being parched with thirst, he persuaded Pholos to 
open a cask of precious wine, which was a gift of the gods 
and common property of all the Centaurs. The fragrance 
of the wine was so strong that the Centaurs came in haste, 
meaning to slay the thief, but after a desperate fight they 
were themselves slain by Herakles' poisoned arrows. Pholos, 
too, lost his life ; he had drawn an arrow from the body of 
a dead Centaur and was curiously examining it, when it fell 
from his hand and scratched his foot. Herakles found his 
friend dead when he returned from his pursuit of the enemy. 

5. In the great Stable of Augeias of Elis three thou- 
sand cattle had been kept for a long time. Hence the task 



208 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

of cleaning the stable in one day seemed well-nigh impossible. 
But Herakles broke down part of the wall, and turned the 
course of Alpheios and Kladeos, two rivers which flowed 
past the stable, making them run through it, and wash away 
all the mire. Herakles had demanded a share of the cattle 
as his reward, but when Augeias knew that he had been 
sent by Eurystheus he refused to fulfil his part of the bargain. 
For this treachery he was afterwards punished severely. 

6. In the marshy forests of Stymphalos, in Arkadia, lived 
the Stymphalides, huge birds of prey, with brazen wings, 
claws and beaks, who attacked men and beasts. Athene 
taught Herakles how to use a brazen rattle, to frighten the 
birds out of their roosting-places, so that he could shoot 
them one by one as they flew. 

7. In Crete Herakles caught the mad bull which was 
destroying the crops on the island. This was the bull 
which Minos had promised to sacrifice to Poseidon, but kept 
for himself because of its great size and beauty. Herakles 
brought the raging beast alive to Mykenai, but Eurystheus 
let it loose again, and it wasted the fields of Attika and the 
valley of Marathon. In the legend of Theseus it appears 
again as the " Marathonian bull." 

8. The eighth labour was to bring the horses of King 
Diomede of Thrace to Mykenai. This cruel king used to 
throw to his horses all strangers who entered hisr country, 
and the horses devoured them. Herakles, with his following 
of brave men, sailed to Thrace, slew King Diomede and the 
keepers of the horses, brought the animals on board, and 
sailed back to King Eurystheus. Then he drove the horses 
out into the mountains, where they were torn in pieces by 
wild beasts. Abderos, one of Herakles' companions, was 
killed by the horses in the struggle. Herakles founded the 
town Abdera to his memory, and named it after him. 



VI.] HESIONE, CERYON 209 

9. After this, Herakles had to go to the land of Scythia, 
(now the South of Russia), north of the Black Sea, and fetch 
the girdle of the Amazon queen Hippolyta for the daugh- 
ter of Eurystheus. He slew the brave queen in a battle 
which he fought with her and her warlike Amazons, took 
the girdle, and brought it to Mykenai. 

During this voyage Herakles stopped at Troy, and found 
that the sacrifice of Hesione, daughter of Laomedon, was 
about to take place. We have already told how Apollo and 
Poseidon had helped Laomedon to build his rampart. When 
the work was finished, Laomedon refused the promised re- 
ward, and, as a punishment, Poseidon sent a monster trom 
the deep sea to lay waste the Trojan coast. An oracle de- 
cided that the answer of the god could only be appeased by 
the sacrifice of Hesione. At the very moment when the 
maiden was standing bound, and the monster was approach- 
ing from the sea, Herakles arrived, and slew it with his un- 
erring arrows. But Laomedon behaved treacherously to 
Herakles, and refused him the horses which had been set 
for a reward. Herakles reserved for a later time his revenge 
on Laomedon, wishing first to free himself from Eurystheus. 

10. On the island of Erythia, far in the west of Okeanos, 
lived the three-bodied giant Geryon, whose beautiful herds 
of cattle were guarded by a mighty dog with three heads. 
On the way to this island from Argos, Herakles must pass 
through the so-called Pillars of Hercules, now the Straits of 
Gibraltar. About this journey the poets relate many stories. 
As he was travelling through the desert of Libya he suffered 
much from the burning rays of the sun, for Helios drove his 
fiery car low down over his head, and he raised his bow to 
shoot at the god. Helios, who was immortal and invulner- 
able, was pleased with the courage of the hero, and lent him 
a golden boat to sail to Erythia. Herakles reached the 

IS 



2io MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

island in safety, slew the herdsman and his dog, and was 
just carrying off the cattle, when Geryon discovered the theft 
and seized him. After a long struggle Geryon was defeated. 
On his way home Herakles had many adventures. In Italy 
the giant Cacus stole some of the cattle and hid them in his 
cave, where the town of Rome afterwards stood. Herakles 
heard the cattle low, traced them to their hiding-place, and 
slew Cacus. 

1 1 . Herakles' next task was to fetch the golden apples of 
the Hesperides. These were the fruits which Gaia had 
brought as a bridal gift to the marriage of Zeus and Hera. 
The Hesperides, Avho lived in the far west, had received 
them from Zeus, and planted them in the earth. Trees had - 
grown up from the seeds, and on the trees hung precious fruit, 
guarded by the Nymphs and the huge dragon Ladon. As 
Herakles did not know where the garden of the Hesperides 
lay, he wandered for a long time, and met with many 
dangerous adventures before he reached it. In vain he 
asked the nymphs of Eridanos and other rivers, and at last 
by stratagem he forced Neretis, the prophetic old man of 
the sea, to tell him which way to go. In Libya he met the 
giant Antaios, son of Gaia, whom no one could master be- 
cause he renewed his strength as soon as he touched the 
Earth, his mother. Herakles defeated him by lifting him 
in the air and strangling him. In Egypt lived King Busi'rz's, 
who sacrificed all strangers to his gods. Herakles was to be 
sacrificed like the others, but he broke the chains with which 
he was bound, and killed the cruel king. As he passed 
Mount Caucasus he freed Promethus, who was bound to 
the rock. After tedious wanderings, Herakles came where 
the giant Atlas bore the heavens on his shoulders. Atlas 
was the uncle of the Hesperides, and by his mediation the 
apples were given to Herakles on condition that he should 



THE HESPERIDES 



bring them back again. According to another version of 
the story, Herakles himself entered the garden, slew the 
dragon, and plucked the apples. 

12. The last and hardest labour was to fetch the dog 
Kerberos from the underworld. By the aid of the gods 
Herakles entered the shadow-kingdom, and left it alive, 
which no mortal man had ever done before. Hades allowed 
Herakles to take the dog to the upper world on condition 
that he should master it without weapons, and bring it back 
again uninjured. In the realm of Hades Herakles found * 
Theseus and Peirithoos firmly fastened to a rock for the 
crime of attempting to carry off Persephone. He succeeded 
in liberating Theseus, but when he was about to take 
Peirithoos' hand the earth shook, and thus signified the 
will of the gods that the friend of Theseus should still 
suffer for his crime. Herakles having brought the dog 
Kerberos safely to Eurystheus, was freed from his slavery, 
and from that time was honoured as the greatest of national 
heroes. 

(c) Later exploits of Herakles. 

Before Herakles could enjoy a peaceful life he had to 
stand a new and severe test. King Eurytos of Oichalia had 
promised his beautiful daughter Iole to the hero who could 
excel him in shooting with the bow. Herakles achieved 
an easy victory ; but Eurytos behaved treacherously, taunted 
Herakles with his slavery under Eurystheus, and refused to 
give him his daughter. Herakles left Oichalia in great 
wrath, and meeting Iph'tos, son of Eurytos, he threw him 
down from the battlements of the royal palace at Tiryns. 
By this revengeful act Herakles again forfeited the favour of 

1 In Aus der Anomia, Karl Robert dargebracht, Berlin, 1S90 ; J. 
Toepffer, " Theseus und Peirithoos." 



212 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

the gods, and in his restless wanderings he came to Delphi. 
When Apollo refused to allow him to enter his sanctuary, 
Herakles raised his hand in sacrilege against the holy place. 
He seized the tripod from which the Pythia used to announce 
the will of the god, and was dragging it out of the temple, 
when Apollo himself came forth to resist him, and if Zeus 
had not interfered his two sons would have engaged in a 
mortal struggle. The Pythia, at the command of Zeus, con- 
sulted the Oracle, and received the response that Herakles 
must be sold for three years as a slave. 1 He now entered 
the service of Omphale, queen of Lydia, and was brought so 
low that he was dressed in women's clothes, and span among 
the servants of Omphale, while she put on his lion-skin and 
carried his club. Yet during this year of slavery Herakles 
did not forget that his duty was to punish injustice wherever 
he found it, to help the oppressed and to do deeds of courage 
and righteousness. Among others, he punished the lawless 
dwarf race of the Kerkopes, who had been the torment of 
travellers for a long time. 

After a lapse of three years Herakles returned to Greece 
in unimpaired strength and vigour. 

Among the brilliant adventures which won for him the 
reputation of a popular hero, were the expedition of the 
Argonauts and the first siege of Troy. The cause of 
the siege was the treachery of Laomedon, king of Troy. 
As a reward to Herakles for saving the life of his daughter 
Hesione, he had promised him the horses of Tros, his father, 
which were a gift from Zeus, but he broke his word. Herakles 
took to him other heroes, Tel anion, father of Aias, Peleus, 
father of Achilles, Oikles, father of Amphiaraos, and be- 
sieged the faithless king in his fortress. Telamon was the 

1 In Aus der Anomia, Karl Robert dargebracht ; K. Wernicke, "Zur 
Geschichte der Heraklessage." 



vi.] THE FIRST SIEGE OF TROY SI3 

first to scale the walls, and Laomedon with all his sons, ex- 
cept Podarkes, were slain by the arrows of Herakles. Hesione 
fell to the share of Telamon, the victor. By her pleading she 
gained the life of Podarkes ; he was called Priamos, and 
founded a new royal dynasty in Troy, after Herakles had 
gone away with the Greeks. 

As the heroes were sailing home, they were driven by a 
storm to Kos, where the inhabitants of the island refused 
them hospitality in their distress ; therefore the heroes 
attacked them and destroyed their city. In a campaign 
against Pylos, Herakles defeated Periklymenos, who pos- 
sessed the power of transformation and could only be de- 
feated by the help of Athene. King Neleus, too, with all his 
sons, perished, only Nestor remained alive. Soon after this 
the tireless hero marched out to take vengeance on the Hip- 
pocoontydai in Lacedaemon, who had driven out Tyndareus 
the rightful ruler, his friend. He succeeded in restoring 
Tyndareus to his throne, but many heroes perished, among 
others the sons of King Kepheus of Tegea. Ange* daughter 
of Kepheus, bore Herakles a son, Telephos, who inherited 
his father's powers, and was fated to have a strange, chequered 
career. Exposed as an infant by Kepheus, he was suckled 
by a doe. His mother was sold as a slave, and bought by 
Teuthras, king of Mysia, who made her his queen ; the 
mother and son were then re-united, and Telephos succeeded 
his father on the throne of Mysia. When the Greeks landed 
on the shores of Mysia on their way to Troy, and fell into .strife 
with the inhabitants, Telephos was wounded by Achilles, 
but after peace was made, his wound was healed by rust 
from the spear which had inflicted it. 

Passing over numerous exploits of Herakles, we shall now 
relate those which precede his death. 

1 Thraemer, " Tergamos." 



214 MYTHS OF HERUES [chap. 

(d) Her cikles 1 death and Apotheosis? 

Herakles had formerly wooed Iole ) daughter of King 
Eurytos ; but although he fulfilled the conditions laid down, 
the king treacherously refused to give her to him. He 
therefore married Deianeira, daughter of Oineus, prince of 
Kalydon. In order to possess her he was obliged to engage 
in a deadly struggle with the river-god Acheloos. The 
god took many shapes, but Herakles held him firmly all 
the time, and when at last he turned into a monstrous bull, 
Herakles broke off his horn, and Acheloos was obliged to 
own himself defeated. Herakles lived long and happily 
with Deianeira and his son Hyllos. Once when he was on 
a journey with his wife, they came to a mountain stream, 
swollen to a torrent by heavy rains. He himself easily 
strode through the water, and the Centaur JVessos, who 
happened to come up, offered to ferry Deianeira over on his 
back. Being smitten with her beauty he tried to carry her 
off, but was instantly pierced by Herakles' unerring shaft. 
His revenge was a terrible one ; as he was dying, he told 
Deianeira to take some of his blood, and if ever her husband 
should be faithless to her, to smear some of it on his robes, 
when the old love would at once return to his heart. 

Herakles now marched against Eurytos, to punish him for 
his treachery. He took his town, Oichalia, slew him and 
his sons and carried away his daughter Iole to Eubcea as a 
captive. There Herakles prepared a great sacrifice to Zeus 
on a mountain as an expression of his gratitude, and sent a 
messenger to Deianeira to ask for a white robe, such as it 
was customary to wear on solemn occasions. Now Deianeira 
had heard that Iole was with Herakles, and she feared that 
Herakles would forget her, so she followed the advice of 

1 Sophocles, " Trachiniae." 



vi.J DEATH OF HERAKLES 215 

Nessos, smeared the robe with a salve prepared from the 
blood of the Centaur and sent it by Lichas to her husband. 
Herakles had no suspicion, and put it on, but scarcely had 
the garment touched his body when he was seized with 
dreadful pains ; the poison spread through all his frame 
and he felt death approaching. Deianeira slew herself in 
horror when she heard the news. Herakles caused his 
attendants to carry him to Mount GEta, and erect a great 
pyre of wood ; after giving his bow and his unerring arrows 
to his friend Philoktetes, he mounted the pyre and ordered 
it to be set on fire. As the flames rose, a cloud covered the 
hero's form, while Hermes and Iris descended to carry him 
to Olympos. There he was made immortal and married to 
Hebe, with whom he led a happy and glorified existence, 
reconciled to Hera, honoured by Zeus, and loved by all the 
gods. 

Herakles is the type of the strength and heroic virtue of 
his age. The Greek races honoured him as such and erected 
many temples to him, some of which have been discovered. 
The Romans paid like honours to Hercules. 

The representations of Herakles and his labours in art are 
very numerous. He usually appears as a man of powerful 
frame, of full age, with a thickly-curled beard, carrying a 
club and wearing a lion's skin on his shoulders. In early 
Greek art he carries a bow. 

In ancient times it was considered a great honour to be 
descended from Herakles. His posterity called themselves 
Heraklidai, and fought long and bloody contests with the 
Pelopidai, children of Pelops, of whom Eurystheus was one, 
for the possession of the Peloponnese. 



216 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

9. THESEUS. 1 

The cultus of Theseus holds the same position in Attica 
and among the Ionians as that of Herakles in Argos and 
Boeotia — hence the myths of the two heroes have many 
points of similarity. 

Theseus was descended from Erechtheus, king of Athens. 
His father was King Aigeus, and his mother was Aithra, 
daughter of Pittheus, king of Troezene, and grand-daughter 
of Pelops. He was brought up by his grandfather, a man 
to whom great virtues and many wise sayings are ascribed. 
He practised in the school of wrestling, and was taught by 
Cheiron to play on the lyre. When he was seventeen years 
old, he was eager to prove his strength. Some time before 
this Aigeus, on taking farewell of Aithra in Troezene, had 
laid his sword and sandals under a huge mass of rock, 
saying that as soon as Theseus could lift it, Aithra was to 
give him the sword and sandals and send him to Athens. 
Theseus now lifted the rock, took the sword and sandals 
and journeyed to Athens. On his way thither he performed 
exploits something like those of Herakles. In the wild 
border -land between Troezene and Epidauros he slew 
Periphetes? who used to kill with his iron club all who 
passed that way. Further, on the Isthmus of Corinth he 
overcame the robber Sin is, who murdered all travellers, and 
he founded in this region the Isthmian Games. At Krom- 
myon the hero killed the terrible wild sow. On the most 
dangerous point of the rocky road the robber Skeiron dwelt. 
Theseus threw him into the sea, thus treating him as he 
treated strangers. At Eleusis a strong robber named 

( Plutarch, "Theseus." 

1 1 J. E. Harrison, "Mythology and Monuments," p. xcviii.-clvi. 
i\V. Mannhardt, " Wald-und Feldkulte." 

2 Pausanias, i. 19 and 27. 



VI. I THESEUS 417 

Kerkyon was overcome by Theseus, and Damastes, called 
also Procrustes, received the reward of his wickedness. 
This monster used to stretch all who came to his dwelling 
on a bed ; if they were too long for it he hewed off some of 



Fig. 45. Cylix : Exploits of Theseus {British Museum). 

their limbs, if they were too short, he stretched them to fit 
it till he tore them in sunder. (Fig. 45.) 

When Theseus came to Athens after this slaughter, some 
friendly countrymen helped him to cleanse away the blood. 
As he wore a long Ionic chiton, in which he looked like a 



218 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

maiden, the people laughed at him, saying that a girl 
should not walk about the streets alone. To show that he 
was no weak woman, Theseus unyoked the oxen from a 
waggon which stood near, and threw them high into the air. 
In Athens Theseus found the enchantress Medeia wedded to 
his father. She would have slain him by poison, but when 
Aigeus recognized him as his son she was afraid, and fled. 

Pallas, brother of Aigeus, had fifty gigantic sons, called 
Pallantidai. They wished to deprive Theseus and Aigeus, 
whom they supposed childless, of the dominion over Attica, 
but Theseus defeated them. He then mastered the wild 
buH which Herakles had brought from Crete to Greece, and 
which was called the Marathonian bull, from the devasta- 
tions it made in the plain of Marathon. Theseus brought 
the beast alive to Athens and sacrificed it to Athene, who 
had given him the victory. 

But Theseus' most famous deed was the slaying of the 
Minotaur. Andr jgeos, the young son of Minos, king of 
Crete, had died at Athens. Therefore Minos made war 
against the town, took it and granted quarter to the inhabi- 
tants on condition that they should send to Crete every 
ninth year seven boys and seven girls, to be devoured by the 
monster Minotaur. Just as the mournful shipload was being 
sent off for the third time, Theseus offered to make one 
among the seven boys. When he came to Crete, Ariadne, 
daughter of Minos, fell in love with him, and by her ingen- 
uity Theseus was prepared for an attack on the Minotaur. 
This monster lived in the Labyrinth, a large building with 
countless underground passages and chambers, out of which 
no one who had once entered it could escape. Ariadne 
gave Theseus a clew of yarn, one end of which he made fast 
to the door ; holding the clew in his hand, and unwinding 
it as he walked, he reached the centre of the building ; 



vi.] ARIADNE 219 

here, after a terrible struggle, he slew the monster, and 
then, by following the clew, he made his way out of the 
Labyrinth. Thus Athens was freed from the shameful tax. 
Theseus, with his rescuer, Ariadne, and his companions, 
secretly went on board ship and sailed away to Athens. 
On the way they stopped at the island of Naxos. There 
Theseus abandoned Ariadne while she was asleep, because 
he would not bring a foreign wife home to Athens. How 
Dionysos found her, made her immortal, and took her for 
his bride, we have already heard. The despair of the for- 
saken bride and her joyful union to Dionysos, are subjects 
which poets and artists have often treated. 

The Athenians, meanwhile, were waiting in the greatest 
anxiety for the return of the ship. Theseus had promised 
that if his adventure were successful a white sail should be 
spread instead of the black one with which the ship had 
started, but in his joy he forgot his promise, and the ship 
sailed into harbour with a black sail. When Aigeus saw 
this he thought the last scion of his family had perished, 
and threw himself in despair from a rocky height into the 
sea, which is called the ^Egean after him to this day. 

As perpetual reminders of this exploit Theseus founded 
many festivals and sacred rites, the Pyanepsia to Apollo, 
feasts to Aphrodite Pandemos, and others. 

Theseus took part in the expedition of the Argonauts, 
and fought against the Amazons. On the first occasion, 
when Herakles took the girdle of Hippolyta, Theseus won 
the love of Antiope and took her with him to Athens ; on 
the second, when the Amazons invaded Attica with a large 
army to avenge this rape, they were put to flight by Theseus, 
and their army was almost annihilated. 

Peirithoos, x prince of Thessaly, was a dear friend of 

1 In Aits der Anomia, J. Toepffer, " Theseus und PeirUhoos." 



220 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

Theseus. At his wedding with Hippodameia, the lawless 
Centaurs, who broke in and interrupted the festivities, were 
defeated and crushed by the hero. After this Peirithoos 
was seized by a fatal passion for Persephone, and even 
formed the mad resolve to carry her off from the very side 
of Pluto. Theseus joined his friend in this enterprize, but 
they were captured in Hades and kept prisoners till Herakles 
set them free. 

After the death of his father, Aigeus, Theseus entered on 
a brilliant and beneficent reign. He founded the city of 
Athens by uniting the scattered townships of Attica round 
the Acropolis, where was a common sanctuary. He added 
splendour to the Panathenaia, the famous popular festival 
in honour of Pallas Athene, which Erechtheus had founded. 
On the island of Delos, where he had landed on his voyage 
from Crete to Athens, he founded the Delian festival. To 
this feast the Athenians used to send a yearly embassy in a 
ship, which tradition long held to be the same as that from 
which Theseus had landed. He also founded the Oscho- 
phoria to Dionysos, as husband of Ariadne. 

Theseus lived to a great age, and was slain by the traitor 
Lykomedes in the island of Skyros. His bones were brought 
to Athens in the time of Kimon and buried in the city. 
The Athenians honoured him as a demigod, built a sanctuary 
to him and celebrated a popular festival every year in his 
honour. 1 

IO. MELEAGROS AND THE KALYDONIAN BOAR-HUNT. 

Meleagros was the son of Oinetis, king of Kalydon, and of 
Althaia. He was brother of Deianeira, the wife of Herakles. 
Soon after his birth the Moirai appeared to Althaia and 
revealed to her the fate of her son. Atropos said, " He will 

1 See Plutarch's " Theseus." 



vi.J THE KALYDONIAN BOAR 221 

live until that glowing brand on the hearth is consumed." 
When she heard this Althaia hastily snatched the burning 
log from the flames, extinguished it, and put it in a place 
of safety. Meleagros grew to be a strong, vigorous youth ; 
he took part in the expedition of the Argonauts, and other 
famous exploits, and no one could wound him, but he appears 
in his most brilliant light as the hunter of the Kalydoxian 
boar. The boar, a huge powerful beast, supposed to be of 
the race of the sow of Krommyon, whom Theseus had killed, 
was sent by Artemis to devastate the plains of Kalydon 
because Oineus had forgotten her when he was sacrificing to 
all the gods. Many had tried to catch or kill the boar, but 
in vain, so Meleagros assembled all the best heroes of Greece 
to hunt it, and promised that the skin should be the prize of 
the slayer. Idas and Lynkeus came from Mykenai, Kastor 
and Polydeukes from Lakedamion, Theseus from Athens, 
Admetos from Pherai, Ankaios from Arkadia, Jason from 
Iolkos, Peleus from Thessaly and many others. The 
beautiful Atalanta came with them. 

" And one, the maiden rose of all thy maids, 
Arcadian Atalanta, snowy souled, 
Fair as the snow and footed as the wind, 
From Ladon and well-wooded Msenalus ; 
Over the firm hills and the fleeting sea, 
Hast thou drawn hither, and many an armed king, 
Heroes, the crown of men, like gods in fight." 1 

For nine days Meleagros entertained the heroes as his 
guests, and on the tenth they sallied forth to the hunt. 
After many of the brave hunters, Ankaios among them, 
had been killed by the furious beast, Atalanta hit him 
with her arrow, others inflicted more wounds and Melea- 
gros gave him the death-thrust. The skin of the boar 

1 A. C. Swinburne, " Atalanta in Calydon." 



MYTHS OF HEROES 



[chap. 



fell to him as a prize, but he gave it as a love-gift to 
Atalanta, who had first touched the beast with her arrow. 
The brothers of Althaia coveted the skin, and took it from 
Atalanta by force on her way back to Arkadia. Meleagros 




igros ( Vatican, Rome). 

came to strife with them about the matter, and slew them. 
When Althaia heard this she threw the brand which she 
had so carefully preserved into the fire, and Meleagros 
immediately ceased to live. Too late did Althaia rue her 



vi.J VOYAGE OF THE A AGO 223 

hasty act, and stabbed herself in remorse. The memory of 
the brave hero Meleagros was long honoured in Kalydon. 
(Fig. 46.) 

II. THE VOYAGE OF THE ARGO. 1 

This expedition embraces a large number of strange and 
marvellous adventures. The leader was Jason, son of Aisott, 
king of Iolkos, in Thessaly, and of Alkimede. Aison's 
step-brother Pelias had expelled him from his kingdom and 
cruelly persecuted all his family, but Jason was rescued by 
some of his father's friends and brought to the Centaur 
Cheiron to be educated. When he was twenty years old he 
went by command of the Oracle to Pelias, and asked him to 
restore his kingdom, but Pelias, too, had consulted an oracle, 
and had heard that he should be hurled from his throne by 
a descendant of Aiolos, Aison's father, who should appear 
before him with one shoe. Now Jason, shortly before he 
arrived at the king's court, had been met by Hera, in the 
form of an old woman, had carried her across the river 
Enipeus, and in doing so had lost one of his sandals. So he 
came to court with one shoe, and thus the oracle was 
fulfilled. Pelias could not refuse to give up the throne, but 
he said that Jason must first prove himself worthy to reign, 
by sailing to Kolchis, and bringing the Golden Fleece. 
Jason agreed, the ship Argo was built and fitted out by the 
help of Hera and Athene, a band of brave warriors was 
called to the adventure, and together they sailed away. 
Almost all the famous heroes of Greece were on board. 
There were Herakles, Kastor and Polydeukes, Meleagros, 
Orpheus, Peleus, father of Achilles, Ncleus, father of Nestor, 

I Euripides, " Medea" (A. W. Verrall). 
I Apollonius Rhodius, " Argonautica." 



224 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

Admetos, Theseus and his friend Peirithoos, the two winged 
sons of Boreas, Zetes and Kala'is, and many others. 

The story of the Golden Fleece was this : Among the sons 
of Aiolos, son of Hellen, was one named Athamas. His 
wife was Nephele and they had two children, Phrixos and 
Helle. After the death of Nephele, Athamas married 7/zo, 
daughter of Kadmos, who bore him Learchos and Melikertes. 
Ino hated her step-children, and wished to kill them. Then 
Phrixos' mother, Nephele, appeared to him, brought him 
the ram of Hermes, with golden wool, and told him and 
his sister to mount it and escape across the sea. The 
children did so ; the ram flew through the clouds with 
them, and brought Phrixos to his journey's end in safety, but 
Helle fell into the sea and was drowned. The strait between 
Europe and Asia, now called the Dardanelles, received from 
her the name Hellespont. As soon as Phrixos reached 
Kolchis, on the farthest coast of the Black Sea, he sacrificed 
the ram as a thank-offering to the gods, and hung the 
Golden Fleece up in the sacred grove of Ares. Then he 
became king, and reigned in honour and prosperity till his 
death. 

It was this precious fleece which Jason was to bring back. 
Before he sailed he sacrificed to Zeus, and Zeus sent him 
thunder and lightning as a favourable omen for his under- 
taking. With his companions, the Argonauts, he went first 
to Lemnos, and there found that the women of the island 
had murdered their husbands at the command of Aphrodite. 
The Argonauts were received by the women in the place of 
their murdered husbands, and from this union sprang a 
new heroic race. After spending some time in ease and 
enjoyment the Argonauts set sail and landed in Kyzikos. 
As they were about to start again, the rudder of Herakles' 
ship broke, and he went into the forest, accompanied bv the 



vi.] PHINEUS 225 

beautiful youth Hylas * to cut wood to make another 
rudder. The forest nymphs, charmed by the beauty of 
Hylas, carried him off. Herakles refused to leave the spot 
until his friend should be restored to him, living or dead, 
and the Argonauts were forced to sail away without him. 
Their next adventure was in the country of the Bebrykes, 
where Scutari now lies, opposite Constantinople. The cruel 
and violent Amykos, king of the place, was a formidable 
boxer, and used to compel all strangers who wished to 
draw water in the land to contend with him. He found 
his match among the Argonauts, for Polydeukes, son of 
Zeus, the first boxer of his time, conquered and slew him. 
And now the heroes were not far from the entrance 
to the Black Sea, which in ancient times was considered 
a most dangerous passage, and which keeps this reputa- 
tion in modern days. The Argonauts would certainly 
have perished, if they had not happened to meet with one 
who gave them good advice. In the neighbourhood of 
this dangerous strait ruled King Phineus, who knew all 
about these seas. Phineus had done wrong to his wife, who 
was a daughter of Boreas, and to their children. Therefore 
the gods struck him blind, and sent Harpies to plague him, 
and to snatch and defile his food as soon as it was placed 
on the table. Zetes and Kala'is, the winged sons of Boreas, 
pursued the Harpies till they fell into the sea and perished, 
and as a mark of gratitude, Phineus gave them instructions 
about their voyage. There were two great floating rocks in 
the strait, called the Symplegades, which always came 
together whenever a ship or a living thing passed between 
them, and crushed it to atoms. Phineus advised the heroes 
to let a dove fly in front of the Argo between the rocks. 
This they did ; the rocks dashed together as the dove flew 

1 Theokritos, Idyll xii. 
16 



226 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap 

through, and then floated wide apart. The Argonauts 
seized the moment and steered their ship boldly and swiftly 
through, so that when the rocks came together again they 
only caught the very end of the rudder. From that time the 
rocks were fixed, and they stand firm to this day. After 
other adventures the Argonauts finally came to. Kolchis. 

Aietes, son of Helios, was king in Kolchis, and he would 
not give up the Golden Fleece until he had imposed on the 
heroes many dangerous tasks. But Medeia, the beautiful 
daughter of Aietes, loved Jason, and as she knew the art of 
magic, she gave him a wonderful ointment which made him 
proof against fire and sword. Jason's first task was to yoke 
the brazen bulls of Hephaistos to a brazen plough, and plough 
the field of Ares. These bulls had never been tamed, and 
they breathed fire from mouth and nostrils. Fortified by 
the magic ointment, Jason seized the dreadful beasts and 
forced them under the yoke. When the field was all 
ploughed, Aietes gave Jason a helmet full of dragons' teeth, 
which he was to sow in the furrows. From these grew 
up before the evening an army of brazen giants who rushed 
at Jason to kill him, but Jason, by Medeia's advice, threw 
down a great stone among them ; the giants fought for the 
stone and slew each other. The few who were left alive 
submitted to Jason as their lord, for his sword had been so 
hardened by the ointment that it could cut through steel. 
When Jason had fulfilled all the conditions, Aietes would 
not give up the Fleece, but by Medeia's magic art Jason 
put the dragon to sleep who guarded the Fleece, took it from 
the oak where Phrixos had hung it, and fled with his com- 
panions. Medeia went with them. The king took ship, 
sailed in pursuit to recover his daughter, and nearly overtook 
them. Then Medeia slew her little brother, Apsyrtos, who 
was in the ship with her, cut him in pieces and threw the 



VI.] MED EI A 227 

pieces into the sea. While the distracted father was looking 
for the scattered limbs of his child Jason and Medeia 
escaped, and after many wanderings and adventures, came 
to the kingdom of Pelias. As Pelias still refused, although 
all his conditions were fulfilled, to give Jason the throne, 
Medeia planned his death and persuaded his daughters to 
become her accomplices in the murder. She killed a ram, 
and boiled it in a cauldron with magic juices, till she 
transformed it into a young living lamb. The daughters 
of Pelias put their father into the cauldron, expecting to 
see him become young again, but as Medeia gave them 
no magic juice, Pelias perished. Jason succeeded him as 
King of Iolkos, and also ruled over Corinth, which had 
been the kingdom of Aietes before he went to Kolchis. 

After ten happy and peaceful years, Jason fell in love with 
Kreusa (or Glauke) ) a beautiful princess of Corinth, and 
made her his queen. Stung by jealousy, Medeia sent her 
rival a poisoned robe and crown, and thus made an end of 
her life. She then set fire to the palace of Kreon, her 
father. When Jason was about to take vengeance on 
Medeia, she slew her own two children and escaped through 
the air in a chariot drawn by dragons. One legend relates 
that she came to Athens, became the wife of Aigeus for a 
short time, but fled when her designs on the life of Theseus 
were discovered, and returned on her dragon-car to Kolchis. 
Jason dedicated the ship Argo in the sanctuary of Poseidon 
on the Isthmus of Corinth, and was about to take refuge 
there himself, when the back part of the ship, having become 
rotten, fell on him and slew him. 

It is quite possible that there is a substratum of fact in 
the myth of the Argo. The Golden Fleece may mean the 
treasure of some distant prince, taken by the Greeks on one 
of their earliest voyages. In later times Jason became the 



228 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

type of selfish ambition, using all means to gain its own 
ends. The story of Jason and Medeia was a fruitful one 
for tragedy, and has been beautifully treated by Euripides 
in his play of " Medeia." 

III. THE AGE OF THE YOUNGER HEROES. 1 

These were the sons and grandsons of those heroes whose 
stories we have already told. What we have to say of the 
younger heroes circles round two great events, which more 
than any other subjects were the universal possession of 
Greek poetry : these are the wars of Thebes and Troy. The 
Theban war is treated in an old epic called the Thebais, by 
an unknown author, and in plays, fragments of which are 
still extant ; the Trojan war in a whole series of epics, the 
most important of which, Homer's Iliad, has come down to 
us complete. 

i. The Attack on Thebes by the Seven Heroes and 
their Sons the Epigoni. 2 

We have told how CEdipus, by the dark decrees of fate, 
came to the throne of Thebes, and how he married his own 
mother, Iocaste, after being unwittingly the murderer of his 
father. He had by Iocaste four children : two sons, Eteokles 
and Polyneikes, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene. 
When the terrible wrong was discovered, Iocaste slew 
herself, and GEdipus put out his eyes and went into exile 
attended by his faithful daughter Antigone, who would not 
leave him. The sons remained in Thebes, with the weight 



1 Johannes Overbeck, " Die Bildwerke zum thebischen und troischen 
Heldenkreis." 

//Ehchylus, " The Seven Against Thebes " (A. W. Verrall). 

2 J GEdipus Coloneus. 
( Sophocles, "Antigone." 



vi.] THE ATTACK ON THEBES 229 

of their father's curse on them, and fell at variance about 
the succession to the throne. At last they agreed to rule 
alternately, each for a year at a time, and accordingly the 
eldest, Eteokles, ascended the throne. But when his year 
was out he refused to hand over the sceptre to his brother, 
and drove him away by force. 

Polyneikes resolved to have revenge, and coming to King 
Adrastos in Sikyon, he there found another exiled prince, 
Tydeus of Argos. The two young warriors made a compact 
of friendship, and each swore to help the other to regain 
his right. King Adrastos, whose two daughters they had 
married, joined their alliance, and collected a mighty army 
to restore Polyneikes to Thebes and Tydeus to Argos. 

The two heroes themselves went about Greece to collect 
allies, and many a brave warrior obeyed their summons. 
Kapaneus came, son of Hipponoos of Argos, Eteokles, son of 
Iphis, Parthenopaios, son of Atalanta and Milanion or Ares, 
and the seer Amphiaraos, son of Oikles or Apollo. Amphi- 
araos was a descendant of the prophet Melampus, and had 
inherited the power of seeing the future. He knew that all 
the leaders were impious men, that Polyneikes was acting 
contrary to the will of the gods in leading an army against 
his brother and his native town, and that the campaign 
would come to naught. Amphiaraos therefore refused to go 
with the army, and prophesied a mournful doom to the othei 
leaders. They, however, took no heed of his warnings, and, 
being anxious for his presence among them, they had recourse- 
to stratagem. Eriphyle, 1 sister of Adrastos, was wife to Am- 
phiaraos. The two brothers-in-law agreed to refer the dispute 
as to whether Amphiaraos was to go to the war or not to 
the decision of Eriphyle. Polyneikes bribed her with a 
necklace to decide against her husband's wish, although she 

1 " Mythology and Monuments, Athens," J. E. H. Div. A, Sect. iv. 



230 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

knew that none of the heroes who marched against Thebes, 
except Adrastos, were to come back alive. Amphiaraos 
cursed his wife before he took the field, and this curse was 
fulfilled by their son Alkmaion, who slew his mother to 
avenge the betrayal of his father. 

And now the army was ready to march. But before we 
tell of what befel it, let us turn for a moment to CEdipus. 
He wandered about Greece in sorrow and misery, his 
daughter Antigone his only companion, and at last came tc 
Attica, where the oracle had said he should find rest from 
his griefs. His sons, who had neglected him hitherto, now 
were told by an oracle that the one who should bring CEdi- 
pus to Thebes should be the conqueror. Polyneikes there- 
fore came to (Edipus in person and begged for his blessing 
on the campaign against Thebes, but CEdipus cursed him 
for his impious undertaking. Eteokles sent his mother's 
brother Kreon to Attica, commanding him to bring CEdipus 
without fail to Thebes. Kreon tried to fulfil this mission, 
but Theseus interfered and expelled him and his followers. 
So it happened that CEdipus met his death in the grove of 
the Eumenides at Kolonos, near Athens, after cursing his 
undutiful sons once more, and prophesying that they should 
slay each other. When Theseus had buried CEdipus with 
due rites, Antigone returned to Thebes deeply mourning. 

And now the heroes marched against Thebes. When 
they reached Nemea they found that Dionysos had worked 
a miracle and dried up all the springs, so that they were 
parched with thirst. In their distress they met with Hypsi- 
pyle, the beloved of Jason, whom the Lemnian women out 
of jealousy had sold as a slave to King Lykourgos of Nemea, 
and who had become nurse to the king's infant son, Opheltes. 
The heroes begged the woman to show them a spring ; she 
was ready to do so, and laid the child Opheltes down on the 



vi.] ARCHEMOROS 231 

ground in a wood till she should return. When they looked 
for the child again they found that a snake had coiled round 
him and killed him. Tydeus and Kapaneus wished to slay 
the beast, but Amphiaraos told them that it was sent as an 
evil omen from Zeus, and called the child " Archemoros" 
(the beginning of destiny). The leaders of the army appeased 
the parents' anger by instituting brilliant funeral Games in 
honour of the child, which were afterwards developed into 
the Nemean Games. Hypsipyle was restored to her native 
country by her son Euneos. 

In spite of the evil omen, the army marched on, and soon 
arrived at the town of Thebes. The camp was pitched, but 
before beginning hostilities Tydeus was sent as envoy to the 
town to demand that Polyneikes should be reinstated as 
king. Tydeus met with a treacherous reception, for Eteokles, 
contrary to every law of right and honour, caused an ambush 
of fifty men to lie in wait for him. He slew the whole fifty 
except one, who escaped and told the tale to Eteokles. 

Arms must now decide the question. Thebes was closely 
blockaded, and the seven generals took up their posts before 
the seven gates of the town. Seven leaders from the city 
opposed them, each with his squadron, Eteokles himself 
leading the body of men which was to attack Polyneikes. 
Great deeds of bravery were performed by the heroes on 
both sides. But the gods were against the besiegers' army, 
and favoured the Thebans, because, at the command of the 
seer Teiresias, Kreon's son Menoikeus had freely offered his 
life as a sacrifice for his native country. On the morning of 
the decisive battle, Amphiaraos again warned the besieging 
generals of their approaching defeat, and the death of all 
except Adrastos. They therefore gave to Adrastos keep- 
sakes for their families at home, and went to the attack with 
the courage of despair. 



2 3 2 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

At first Thebes had the worst of the struggle. Kapaneus, 
who had grimly determined to take Thebes in spite of omens 
and the will of Zeus, had already mounted the scaling-ladder 
on the walls, when Zeus himself hurled him down with his 
thunderbolt. The Thebans thereupon made a general sally, 
which resulted in the complete defeat of the Argive army 
and the death of the leaders. Eteokles and Polyneikes 
stabbed each other in single fight, Amphiaraos was swallowed 
up in a cleft of the earth and became an underworld daemon 
and giver of oracles ; only Adrastos escaped on the winged 
horse Arion. 

The rule in Thebes passed to Kreon, uncle of Eteokles and 
Polyneikes. He caused Eteokles to be buried with due 
funeral rites, but forbade, on pain of death, that any one 
should pay the like honour to Polyneikes. The noble 
maiden, Antigone, determined to disobey Kreon's command, 
for her brother's unburied ghost was wandering the earth 
and could not find rest in the underworld. She secretly 
buried the body of her unhappy brother, and was taken in 
the act by the guards of Kreon. Although she was the 
affianced bride of Haimon, Kreon's son, who begged 
earnestly for her life, she was doomed to be buried alive. 
She was shut up in an underground vault, and hanged her- 
self rather than undergo death by slow starvation. Haimon 
slew himself in despair, and Kreon atoned for his cruelty by 
the desolation of his house. So ended the race of (Edipus. 

Thirty years later the sons of the seven generals of the 
Argive army made a second attack on Thebes to avenge the 
death of their fathers. This campaign is known as the war 
of the Epigoni or descendants. The gods favoured the 
attacking force, Thebes was destroyed, and for a long time 
only an un walled village, called Lower Thebes, stood on the 
former site of the city. 



vi.] THE TROJAN WAR 233 

2. Troy and the Trojan War. 1 

(a) The Cause of the }\'ar. 

At the time when Thebes was taken by the Epigoni, King 
Priamos was reigning in Troy or Ilion, the chief city of a 
beautiful tract of country on the Hellespont. -His queen was 
Hekabe, and they had many famous sons. Hekabe, being 
about to bring forth another child, dreamed that she gave 
birth to a firebrand. This dream was interpreted to mean 
that the child should destroy the city. When a boy was 
born, the parents exposed him in order to escape the fulfil- 
ment of the oracle, but he was saved by some shepherds, 
who brought him up in obscure rural fashion as one of them- 
selves. He was called Paris or Alexandras. One day, while 
he was feeding his flocks, the three goddesses, Hera, Athene 
and Aphrodite, appeared before him and demanded that he 
should award the prize of beauty. We have already told how 
Themis had prophesied to Zeus when he loved Thetis that the 
son of Thetis should be greater than his father, and how the 
gods thereupon resolved that the sea-goddess should be married 
to a mortal. King Peleus of Phthia in Thessaly was the chosen 
mortal whose piety had made him worthy of this honour. 
Thetis long resisted the wooing of Peleus, but Peleus over- 
came her unwillingness, and when the marriage took place 
all the gods came to the wedding feast, as they had done to 
that of Kadmos and Harmonia. But Eris, the goddess of 

Karl Robert, " Bild und Lied." 

H. Liickenbach, Das Verhaltniss der griechischen Vasenbilder zu 

den Gedichten des epischen Kyklos. 
D. B. Munro, On the Fragment of Proclus' abstract of the Epic 

Cycle contained in the Codex Venetus of the Iliad (in Journa 

of Hellenic Studies, vol. iv.). 
The poems of the Epic Cycle (Ibid., vol. v.). 
F. G. Welcker, " Der epische Cyklus," 2 Thle., 2nd Auflage. 



234 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

discord, had not been invited, and in order to show her spite 
by disturbing peace, she threw down on the table at the 
banquet a golden apple 1 with the writing on it, "To the 
fairest." Hera, Aphrodite, and Athene all claimed the 
apple, and Zeus gave to Paris the right of awarding the 
prize. Therefore the goddesses appeared before the shep- 
herd of Ida, to hear his decision. At first he kept silence. 
Then the goddesses promised him gifts — Hera, power and 
worldly glory, Athene, renown in war, and Aphrodite, the 
fairest wife in Greece. So Paris gave the prize to Aphrodite, 
and thereby drew down upon himself, his race, and his native 
town the bitter enmity of Hera and Athene. 

Meanwhile it happened that two sons of Priamos, Hektor 
and Helenos, went out to the mountains to bring home oxen 
for a great sacrifice in the royal palace of Troy. Seeing a 
beautiful bull, the favourite of Paris, they led it away, but 
Paris was angry, and followed them to the town to demand 
it back from the king himself. The brothers resisted and a 
quarrel arose, in which Paris would have been killed if the 
prophetess Kassandra, dowered by Apollo with knowledge 
of hidden things, had not interfered and made him known 
to his brothers. Paris was welcomed back to the palace ; all 
rejoiced to see how tall- and fair and stately he had grown, 
and the oracle of the firebrand was forgotten. 

Thus the shepherd became a prince, lived a pleasant life 
at the court of Priamos, and almost forgot that Aphrodite 
had promised him the fairest wife in Greece. But the god- 
dess remembered her words and took care for their fulfilment. 
She commanded Paris to sail to Hellas, and there find his wife. 
So Paris set sail, taking with him Aineias (^neas), son of 
Aphrodite and Anchises. He landed in Amyklai and the 

1 J. E. Harrison, " The Judgment of Paris " {Journal of Hellenit 
Studies, 1886). 



vi.] PARIS AND HELENA 235 

Dioskouroi received him. These were Kasior and Polydeukes, 
sons of Zeus and Leda, and brothers of Helena and Klytaim- 
nestra. Kastor and Klytaimnestra were mortal, Polydeukes 
and Helena immortal. Paris remained for a short time with 
the Dioskouroi, and then went with his followers to Sparta, 
where he was received with the same kindness by Menelaos 
the king and Helena his wife. The beauty and grace of 
Helena were so extraordinary that even as a child she set all 
hearts on fire. When she was grown she was wooed by so 
many and such powerful princes of Greece, that her foster- 
father, Tyndareus, husband of Leda, feared to give her hand 
to one of them, lest he should make all the others his 
enemies. He therefore left the choice to Helena herself, 
and bound all her suitors by a great oath not only to abide 
by her decision, but faithfully to help and serve her chosen 
husband in all his exploits. Helena chose the noble prince 
Menelaos, brother of Klytaimnestra's husband, Agamemnon, 
and their marriage was celebrated with great splendour. 
But Tyndareus forgot to sacrifice to Aphrodite, and the 
goddess avenged this neglect by making the daughters of 
Tyndareus the prey of lawless passion. 

Helena and Paris fell in love at their first meeting, and 
Paris further gained Helena's favour by the precious gifts 
which he brought her from the East. But they hid their 
passion so craftily that Menelaos had no suspicion, and even 
went on a journey to the court of Idomeneus, king of Krete, 
leaving the dangerous guest behind. 

Menelaos had scarcely sailed when the Dioskouroi became 
involved in a contest which was to cost them their life. 
They wooed the daughters of Lenkippos, Hilaira and Phoebe, 
who were affianced to Idas and Lynkeus, sons of Aphareus. 
A struggle ensued, and Kastor, the mortal brother, killed 
Lynkeus, and was himself slain by Idas. Polydeukes, after 



236 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

avenging the death of Kastor, implored Zeus to permit him 
to share his immortality with his brother, that he might not 
have to live without him. Zeus granted him his request, 
and the Dioskouroi lived on alternate days as demigods, 
specially revered as the helpers of mariners, and manifesting 
their presence by the electric fire sometimes to be seen at the 
mast-head of a ship sailing during a storm. 

As soon as Paris was left alone with Helena he persuaded 
her to flee with him, and become his bride in the royal city 
of Troy. 

' ' And, leaving to her townsmen throngs a-spread 
With shields, and spear-thrusts of sea-armament, 
And bringing Ilion, in a dowry's stead, 
Destruction — swiftly through the gates she went, 
Daring the undareable." 1 

They fled secretly at night, and were treacherous enough 
to take with them rich treasures belonging to the noble 
Menelaos. In spite of a terrible storm sent by Hera, the 
Argive goddess of marriage, they came safely to Troy, and 
their marriage was celebrated in pomp and splendour. But 
evil days were to follow. 2 

" I had great beauty : ask thou not my name : 
No one can be more wise than destiny. 
Many drew swords and- died. Where'er I came 
I brought calamity." 3 

(b) Preparations for the lroja?i war. 

The long-forgotten oracle about Paris was now to be ful- 
filled, and Troy was to be destroyed. Iris, the messenger of 
the gods, brought to Menelaos news of the misfortune and 

1 R. Browning. 

2 Andrew Lang, "Helen of Troy." 

3 Tennyson. 



vi.] ODYSSEUS 237 

shame which had befallen him. He quickly returned home, 
and, after taking council with his brother Agamemnon, 
went to Pylos to consult the aged King Nestor, who had seen 
two generations pass, and had been a powerful hero in his 
time, and who now towered among the younger warriors like a 
sacred monument commemorating older and stronger days. 
He was rich in experience and advice, and would communi- 
cate his knowledge in sweet-sounding talk, sometimes a little 
garrulous, as is the manner of old men. Nester told Mene- 
laos that a general armament of all Greece was the only 
means of recovering his wife, Helena. 

So the two heroes made a progress throughout Greece, 
summoning all princes and nobles to a war of revenge against 
Troy. Many of these, as former suitors of Helena, were 
bound by their oath to follow Menelaos, others joined him 
from a feeling of knightly loyalty, or from love of adventure. 
All were deeply enraged by the crime of Paris, which they 
condemned as breach of faith, seduction, theft and dishonour 
of the Greek name. When the great army had come to- 
gether, only two illustrious heroes were lacking, Odysseus 
and Achilleus. Their aid could by no means be dispensed 
with. Odysseus, the craftiest of all the princes, son of Laertes 
and king of Ithaka, was married to Penelope, the beautiful 
and wise daughter of Ikarzos, and one of the noblest and 
purest figures in Grecian story. He had one infant son named 
Telemachos. Being unwilling to exchange settled peace 
and domestic happiness for the uncertainties of a doubtful 
campaign, he had recourse to a stratagem when an embassy 
came to summon him ; he feigned madness, but Palamedes, 
who was as crafty as himself, discovered the trick. Odysseus 
was forced to join the expedition, but he swore to be revenged 
on Palamedes. 

Achilleus (Achilles), son of Peleus and Thetis, was fated, 



238 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

according to a prophecy delivered to his mother, to live a 
long and inglorious, or a short and famous life. His mother 
had chosen the former lot for him, and she hid him, disguised 
in women's clothes, among the daughters of King Lykomedes 
on the island of Skyros. Here Achilles won the love of Deida- 
meia, whose son, Neoptolemos, was one day to appear before 
Troy and avenge the death of his father. It was Odysseus who 
succeeded in tracking the son of Peleus, and persuading him 
to join the campaign. He landed on the island of Skyros 
with other heroes, disguised as traders, and offered to the 
daughters of Lykomedes all kinds of ornaments for sale. 
The maidens eagerly took the ornaments in their hands, but 
Achilles showed indifference ; however, when Odysseus sud- 
denly brought out a suit of armour and made warlike music 
play, Achilles was inspired with the spirit of the fight, seized 
his arms and could no longer be held back from the campaign. 

After the heroes had said farewell to their families and 
friends, they all assembled in Aulis. Peleus, being anxious 
about his son's safety, had sent Patroklos, son of Menoitios, to 
accompany him. 

Never had Greece seen so large an armament ; more than 
a thousand ships lay in the bay of Aulis, and on board of each 
were more than a hundred warriors. Agamemnon was made 
general and had to offer sacrifice, for he was the mightiest 
prince of Greece, ruling over Argos and the islands, and 
holding a sceptre derived from Zeus himself. 

(c) The Events at the beginning- of the War* 
While the great army was waiting at Aulis an omen 

(Euripides, " Iphigenia in Tauris." 
E. Hesselmeyer, " Die Urspriinge der Stadt Pergamos." 
L. A. Milani, "II Mito di Filottete " in " Publicazioni del R 
Istituto di Studi Speriori." (Sezoine di filosofia e filologia.) 



vi.] IPHIGEN1A 239 

happened and was interpreted by the soothsayer Kalchas. A 
sparrow had her nest with nine young ones on a plane tree ; 
a serpent wound round the tree, devoured the young birds 
and their mother, and was afterwards changed into stone. 
Kalchas said, " Nine years the Greeks shall besiege Ilion, and 
in the tenth the town shall be taken." J The fleet sailed, but 
the Greeks did not know the way to Troy, and landed in 
Mysia by mistake, thinking it was Trojan territory. There 
they laid waste the land. The king, Telephos, son of 
Herakles, hastened down to the shore, and succeeded in 
driving the Greeks back to their ships. In this skirmish 
Patroklos fought bravely by Achilles' side and was 
wounded. Achilles, who had learned the healing art from 
Cheiron on Mount Pelion, bound up his wound, and formed a 
fast friendship with him which lasted to their life's end. Thus 
Telephos delayed the attack on Troy, and the fleet of the 
Greeks returned to the harbour of Aulis. But he himself had 
been wounded by the spear of Achilles, and the wound 
would not heal. An oracle told him that he must be cured 
by the man who had dealt the blow, and at the same time 
the Greeks were told that Telephos was to be their guide 
to Troy. We must now return to the Greeks at Aulis. 

During the second delay Agamemnon met a beautiful 
stag sacred to Artemis ; in the eagerness of the chase he 
impiously killed the sacred beast, and then boasted that he 
was a more skilful hunter than the goddess herself. This 
was the beginning of a series of terrible misfortunes for him- 
self and the Greeks. The offended goddess sent a complete 
calm, which stayed the fleet from week to week, and although 
Palamedes invented dice and other amusements for the 
heroes in camp, this enforced inactivity weighed heavily on 
their spirits, the more so as no one knew when it would end. 

1 Thraemer, "Pergamos." 



240 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

Discontent arose, and there was some risk that the whole 
expedition would be given up. 

Then the soothsayer Kalchas told Agamemnon that 
Artemis demanded the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia. 
There was a dreadful conflict in the breast of Agamemnon 
between fatherly affection and duty to the army, but the 
latter triumphed, and he sent for his wife Klytaimnestra and 
his daughter Iphigenia to Aulis, under the pretext that the 
maiden was to be married to Achilles. As soon as they 
arrived preparations were made for the sacrifice, and Iphi- 
genia was led to the altar. 

" The high masts flickered as they lay afloat ; 

The crowds, the temples, waver'd, and the shore ; 
The bright death quivered at the victim's throat ; 
Touched, and I knew no more." 1 

Artemis, appeased by this proof of Agamemnon's submis- 
sion, placed a white doe in the maiden's stead at the altar, 
and carried Iphigenia away to Tauris, where she made her 
priestess in her temple. But Klytaimnestra never forgot the 
deceit her husband had practised on her. 

When all was ready for the second start, Telephos, the 
leader whom the Oracle had promised, came to Aulis to find 
healing for his wound. He entered the camp in disguise, 
seized Agamemnon's little son Orestes, who had come with 
his mother, and threatened to kill him unless he could find a 
cure. Odysseus interposed, some rust from Achilles' spear 
was brought, the wound was healed, and Telephos declared 
his readiness to pilot the fleet, to Troy. Accordingly the 
heroes set sail again, and on the way they landed on the 
island of Lemnos to sacrifice to Herakles. Here Philoktetes, 3 
to whom Herakles had left his bows and arrows, was bitten 

1 A. Tennyson. 

2 L. A. Milani, " II Mito di Filottete." 



vi.] FIRST YEAR OF THE SIEGE ail 

by a serpent. As the wound would not heal, and diffused an 
evil odour, Philoktetes was left behind alone on the barren 
coast of Lemnos, abandoned to disease and misery and his 
own revengeful and angry feelings. 1 The fleet sailed on and 
soon reached the Trojan coast. 

(d) The First Year of the Siege. 

The Trojans had been warned of the approach of the 
Greeks in time to collect a large army from the neighbouring 
districts and to fortify their city, so that they were in a 
position to offer formidable resistance to the invaders. As 
King Priamos was too old to go to war himself, his eldest 
son, Hektor? took the chief command. As soon as the Greek 
fleet approached the shore the Trojan army drew up to 
resist them, but the Greeks landed in spite of their resistance, 
and drove them back to their city, though not without loss 
to themselves. Then the Greeks, with Achilles at their 
head, made an attack on the city, but this was unsuccessful. 
Their demand that Helena should be restored to her 
husband was refused, and nothing remained for them to do 
but to build an entrenched camp all round the ships on the 
beach. Two things were now plain : that Ilion could not 
be taken by storm, and that on the open plain the Greeks 
would have the advantage — hence for a long time there 
was no pitched battle between the armies. One single 
combat, between Achilles and Hektor, took place, without 
decisive result ; Achilles captured and killed Priamos' 
youngest son, Troilos ; the Greeks wasted the Trojan terri- 
tory, and destroyed the neighbouring small towns. 

At the sack of one of these towns, named Pedasos, Aga- 
memnon received as prize of honour the beautiful maiden 

1 Sophocles, " Philoktetes." 

3 In Studniczka's "Kyrene," Ferd. Diimmler's "Anhang"on Hektor. 

17 



242 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

Ckryseis, 1 daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo on the island 
of Chryse, while to Achilles' share fell the no less lovely 
Brise'is. These two maidens were to be the occasion of 
deadly strife between Agamemnon and Achilles. Chryses 
came to the Grecian camp to offer a rich ransom for his 
daughter, but Agamemnon refused to give her up, and drove 
the priest away with insulting words. Then Chryses prayed 
to his god Apollo, and the god, already inclined to the 
Trojan side and hostile to the Greeks, heard his prayer, shot 
his arrows against the Greeks, and smote them with pesti- 
lence, so that many died. Agamemnon assembled the army, 
and asked Kalchas, the seer, how he should appease the god. 
After placing himself under the protection of Achilles, 
Kalchas revealed to the king that Apollo was angry because 
of the insult to his priest, and could only be appeased by the 
restoration of Chryse'is. Agamemnon, who already bore 
Kalchas a grudge for his prophecy about Iphigenia, suspected 
collusion between him and Achilles. He could not refuse 
to give up the maiden, but he heaped abuse on Achilles 
and the seer. Achilles could not calmly bear these taunts ; 
he became violently enraged, and would have attacked the 
king had not Athene herself held him back. Agamemnon, 
being touched in his honour by the loss of his prize, 
announced his intention of taking Brise'is from Achilles, 
whereupon Achilles declared that from that hour neither 
he nor any of his men would take part in the war. He held 
to his resolve, and when Briseis was given to Agamemnon 
he withdrew from the army and remained in his tent. But 
his mother Thetis begged Zeus to make Agamemnon and 
the Greeks suffer for this wrong done to her son. Zeus 
granted her request, and promised that the Greek cause 



1 See "Lesbiaka," by K. Tiimpel, in Philologus (Neue Folge), vols- 
48 and 49. 



VI.] WRATH OF ACHILLES 243 

should suffer while Achilles remained away. 1 As soon as 
the Trojans knew that the formidable hero had left the 
army, they ventured out of their city and attacked the 
Greeks on the plain. In many conflicts the Greeks had the 
worst, and after most of their heroes, Agamemnon not 
excepted, had been wounded, they were besieged in their 
entrenched camp by the Trojans. Agamemnon, in this 
extremity, resolved to humble himself to Achilles. 2 He 
sent an embassy of noble princes, and promised to restore 
Brise'is and to give him one of his own daughters in 
marriage, with seven cities as her dowry, if he would again 
aid the Greeks. But it was in vain ; Achilles refused the 
gifts. This inexorable behaviour threw the Greeks into the 
greatest despair ; but it was to bring its own punishment. 

When the affairs of the Greeks were so desperate that 
Hektor had stormed the wall round their camp, and was just 
about to hurl burning torches among their ships,3 Patroklos 
was smitten with pity for his countrymen, and begged 
Achilles to lend him his armour and allow him to lead his 
men into the fight. Achilles agreed, and Patroklos, with 
the Myrmidons, succeeded in striking terror into the hearts 
of the Trojans and driving them back from the rampart. 
Patroklos, instead of returning as Achilles had advised 
him, pursued the Trojans nearly to the walls of Troy. 
There Hektor engaged him in single combat and slew him. 
The Greeks fought for his corpse and recovered it, but 
Hektor seized the armour of Achilles as his spoil. 

The grief of Achilles about his friend was as violent and 
unrestrained as his anger against Agamemnon had been. 
He thirsted for revenge, and in order to obtain it he con- 
sented to a reconciliation with Agamemnon,4 which no sense 
of duty to his countrymen had been able to bring about. 

1 Iliad, i. 2 Ibid., ix. 3 ibid., xvi. 4 Ibid., xix. 



244 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

At the entreaty of Thetis, Hephaistos forged a new suit of 
armour ' for him, the most beautiful and splendid that had 
ever been seen, and arrayed in this Achilles went forth to 
revenge himself on Hektor. The armies met, and marvellous 
feats of valour were done on both sides ; but when Achilles 
appeared the Trojans fled like sheep, only Hektor standing 
out against him. With gloomy forebodings Hektor had said 
farewell to his wife Andromache and his little son Astyanax ) 
for his honour commanded him to venture on a contest from 
which he knew he should never return. When Achilles 
came to meet him, dread and terrible as Ares himself, 
Hektor's hitherto invincible courage sank, and he fled 
towards the city gate. But it was in vain ; Achilles , 
pursued him and cut off his retreat. Then Hektor rallied 
his courage, and turned to meet his doom. After a short, 
sharp fight he met his death under the very eyes of his wife, 
who was watching him from the walls. 3 

Even the death of Hektor was not enough to appease the 
wrath of Achilles, but he shamefully maltreated the corpse 
of his defeated enemy. Binding the dead hero by the feet 
to his war-chariot, he dragged him round the walls of Troy 
and to the camp of the Greeks, where he threw him down 
in the dust and mire. The gods, who loved Hektor, would 
not have his corpse defiled, so they protected it from mutila- 
tion and decay, and made it keep its pristine beauty. It was 
fated in the counsels of Zeus that Achilles' heart should 
be softened, and that he should purify his reputation by a 
noble deed. Thetis brought to her son the command from 
Zeus to deliver up Hektor's body without ransom ; at the 
same time Hermes commanded Priamos to go alone to 
Achilles by night, and to ask for the body of his son.3 The 
old man obeyed, and coming to the hero's tent, he begged 

1 Iliad) xviii, a lb d., xxii. 3 Ibid., xxiv. 



vi.] PENTHESILEIA 245 

for the corpse with moving words, reminding Achilles of 
his own father. Then the hero's heart was touched ; he 
raised the aged suppliant from the ground, entertained him 
hospitably, delivered to him his son's body, and sent him 
with a safe conduct back to Troy. The body of Patroklos 
was buried by the Greeks with great funeral pomp. 

(e) The Last Contests and Death of Achilles.' 1 
After the death of Hektor, their protecting hero, the 
Trojans did not venture without the walls until new aid 
came to them. While they were still mourning for Hektor, 
they were inspired with fresh courage by the arrival of an 
army of Amazons, led by Penthesileia? daughter of Ares. 
Penthesileia was eager to measure her strength in single 
combat with Achilles, and to avenge on him the death of 
Hektor. 

And now began fresh contests. Penthesileia fought at 
the head of the Trojan army, while Achilles and Aias of 
Aigina, son of Telamon, led the Greeks. While Aias and 
the Greek army were driving back the Trojans, Penthesileia 
engaged Achilles in single combat. But a woman, though 
a daughter of Ares, was no match for a hero who could slay 
the strongest men. Achilles would gladly have spared the 
noble maiden, and only when his life was threatened did he 
rally his full strength to deal her a mortal blow. When she 
felt the wound and knew that she must die, she remembered 
the insults heaped on Hektor's corpse, and earnestly begged 

For the poems of the Epic Cycle (lost) see Quintus Smyrnaeus, " Post- 

homerica"; D. B. Munro, On the Fragment of Proclus' abstract 

of the Epic Cycle in the Codex Venetus of the Iliad (in Journal 

of Helleiiic Studies, vol. iv.) ; the Poems of the Epic Cycle (ibid., 

I vol. v.). 

For the chief facts about the poems see R. C. Jebb, " Homer : An 
* Introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey," Chap. iv. 
" iEthiopis," see Epic Cycle. 



246 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

that she might be spared the like indignity. The prayer was 
needless, for Achilles would not treat a defenceless woman 
with scorn or rage. He raised the dying maiden from the 
ground, and, seeing that all hope of life was over, he held her 
in his arms till she died. 

When the Trojans and Amazons saw their leader in the 
enemy's power, they rushed forward to fight for her corpse ; 
but Achilles shouted to them to pause, and declared that he 
was ready to give up the body without ransom, praising 
Penthesileia's bravery, and mourning her youthful beauty 
cut off by death. Greeks and Trojans heard with reverence 
the words of the hero ; only Ther sites, a hateful, low, cowardly 
wretch, could not understand such noble speech, and address- 
ing Achilles in terms of scurrilous abuse, he stepped up to 
the dead maiden, and thrust his lance into her eye. Achilles, 
in a passion of rage, dealt him one blow with his fist, and 
the wretch lay dead on the earth. 

All present approved the deed of vengeance, but Dzomedes, 
son of Tydeus, could not let it pass, for Thersites was his 
blood-relation ; he therefore stepped forward and demanded 
the price of blood. Achilles, deeply wounded that any of 
the Greeks should oppose his will, left the army for the 
second time, and sailed to Lesbos. Odysseus had to use all 
his cunning powers of persuasion to induce him to purify 
himself from the guilt of blood, and to return to the Grecian 
camp, where new battles were awaiting him. 

After this, Memnon, a new ally of the Trojans, appeared on 
the scene, and attacked Achilles. He was the son of the god- 
dess Eos and Tithonos, therefore Achilles' equal in birth, 
and he wore a suit of armour forged by Hephaistos. When 
the heroes met in fight, the two divine mothers hastened 
to Olympos to beg for the life of their sons at the throne of 
Zeus. Zeus was resolved to do nothing against the will of 



VI.] DEATH OF ACHILLES 247 

the Fates ; so he took into his hand the golden balance, in 
which he weighs out to men the lots of life and death ; and 
placed the lots of Achilles and Memnon in the scales. The 
lot of Memnon sank, signifying his death. Eos left Olympos 
in despair. When she came to the battle-field of Troy, 
Memnon had fallen before the spear of Achilles, and she 
could do no more than carry the corpse of her son to her far 
home in the East, where she buried it with due rites. 

But the star of Achilles was soon to wane. Intoxicated 
with his triumphs, he led a storming attack against Troy. 
The Trojans offered no resistance, and Ilion would have been 
taken, contrary to the will of Fate, had not Apollo directed 
an arrow from the bow of Paris, so that it mortally wounded 
Achilles. After a desperate struggle, Aias (Ajax), son of Tela- 
mon, and Odysseus succeeded in recovering his body, and they 
buried it with solemn funeral rites, while the Muses them- 
selves sang the dirge. The possessions of Achilles were 
offered by Thetis as prizes in the games of war celebrated in 
his honour. It was decided by consent of all that the 
armour forged by Hephaistos should be the prize of one 
of those who had saved his corpse. The award fell to 
Odysseus, and Ajax, rather than bear to take the second 
place, slew himself. Another story says that he went mad, 
and committed such childish follies, that when he came to 
his senses he slew himself for shame. 1 

(/) The last Events before the Taking of the City. 
When the Greeks had lost Achilles and Ajax, there was a 
pause in hostilities. But Odysseus caught Helenas, a son of 
Priam, by stratagem, and forced him to use the gift of pro- 
phecy, which he, like his sister Kassandra, possessed, against 
his own city. 

1 Sophocles, "Ajax." 



248 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap 

Helenos told the Greeks that before they could take Iroy 
they must do three things — first, induce the son of Achilles 
to fight on their side ; second, obtain the arrows of Herakles ; 
and third, take possession of the Palladion, the ancient sacred 
image of Athene in the Temple of Troy. 

The first of these tasks was undertaken by Odysseus, who 
was always ready to serve the common cause. He sailed to 
Skyros, where Achilles' son, Neoptolemos, had passed his 
boyhood, and easily succeeded in rousing the ambition of the 
nobleyouth. He gave him his father's precious armour to wear, 
and led him to Troy, where Neoptolemos at once distinguished 
himself in single combat with Eurypylos, son of Telephos. 

It was a more difficult task to obtain the arrows of Herakles, 
for they were in the possession of Philoktetes, who had been 
shamefully abandoned by the Greeks, and was still on the 
island of Lemnos, suffering from his incurable wound. But, 
owing to the prudence and energy of the unwearied Odys- 
seus, aided by Diomedes and Neoptolemos, Philoktetes was 
brought to the camp of the Greeks, his wound was healed 
by Machaon, son of Asklepios, he reconciled himself to 
Agamemnon, and first tried his arrows in a single combat 
with Paris. 

The Trojans were still closely besieged in their city ; but 
all this was of no use so long as the third condition remained 
unfulfilled. And now Odysseus again came forward and 
practised a stratagem in order to find out where the Palladion 
was preserved. He dressed himself in beggars' rags, cut 
himself till he was beyond recognition, and in this state 
crept into the town and found the sanctuary of the image. 
Only Helena recognized him. After the death of Paris she 
had become more and more averse to the Trojans ; she 
considered herself a captive in Troy, and longed to be 
reunited to Menelaos — hence Odysseus found in her an 



VI.] 7 HE TAKING OF TROY 249 

unexpected ally, and planned with her how the town should 
be taken. 

As soon as Odysseus returned to the camp, he summoned 
Diomedes, and together they went into the city and seized 
the image. And now the three conditions announced by 
Helenos had been fulfilled ; yet to take the town one more 
stratagem was necessary, and this was again the invention 
of Odysseus, inspired by Athene. He caused Epet'os* a 
Greek craftsman, to fashion a colossal horse of wood, large 
enough to form a hiding-place for a number of warriors. 
As soon as it was ready, a chosen band of heroes was shut 
up inside it. Then the Greeks broke up their camp, and, 
feigning to abandon the siege and to start for home, they 
took to their ships, leaving the wooden horse behind. 

(g) The Taking of Troy? 

When the Trojans saw that their enemies had broken up 
their camp and had sailed away, they thought they were 
safe, and flocked out of the town to see the place where the 
Greek tents had been. They soon found the wooden horse, 
and regarded it with great curiosity, disputing among them- 
selves what it might mean. Some said it was an engine of 
war, and ought to be destroyed ; others, that it was a sacred 
image or a votive offering, and ought to be brought into the 
town. 

Laokoon,* the priest of Apollo, who, with his two young 
sons, had come out to perform a sacrifice, had a suspicion 
that the horse was a trick. He earnestly warned his country- 
men to put no trust in the Greeks, even when bearing gifts. 



1 Virgil, JEn., ii. 

8 Iliupersis, see " Epic Cycle." 

3 Virgil, Mn., ii. 234. 



$$6 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 



Then he hurled his spear against the side of the horse, and 
there was a sound as of the rattling of armour. The Trojans 
would have attended to this warning, but the gods, having 
determined the destruction of the city, sent an omen which 
led their minds astray. While Laokoon was standing with 
his boys at the altar ready to slay the victim, two huge 
snakes came swimming through the sea from the island of 
Tenedos, glided to the priest, and winding him and his sons 
in their deadly coils, bit them to death. 

The fate of Laokoon appeared to the Trojans to be a 
punishment for the blow given to the sacred offer- 
ing. Another circumstance confirmed them in their error. 
Odysseus had left behind one Sinon, his friend. This 
man now came forward to Priam as a suppliant, with 
his hands tied, pretending to have escaped from the 
Greeks, who, he said, wished to sacrifice him. The old king 
believed him, loosed his bonds and commanded him to tell 
the meaning of the horse. Sinon said it was a sacred image, 
and advised the Trojans to take it into the town, and keep 
it, instead of the Palladion, as a pledge of the protection of 
the god. The Trojans determined to follow his advice, and 
as the gate was too narrow for the horse to pass, a breach 
was made in the wall, and the supposed votive offering was 
dragged in triumph through the town and up to the citadel. 
The Trojans gave themselves up to unrestrained merriment ; 
they feasted and drank, sang and rejoiced far on into the 
night, and then fell into a careless sleep. 

As soon as all was still in the city, Sinon opened the horse 
and let the heroes out. A beacon was lighted as a signal to 
the Grecian fleet, which lay in hiding near Tenedos ; the 
army landed again, and easily penetrated into the city, which 
was left unguarded. A dreadful slaughter now began ; the 
Trojan heroes, awake too late to their danger, made a 



^^v 




■L^l 






'vPS 






BtlP^rt ..I r JmK / 


■M. *W ^B 




V>^ 



LAOKOON-GROUP. 

(VATICAN, ROME.) 



vi.l THE HOMEWARD VOYAGE 251 

desperate resistance, but in vain. Everywhere the city 
was ablaze. Priamos fell by the hand of Neoptolemos, 
Hektor's son was slain, that he might not grow up to avenge 
his father's death, and the bravest heroes died in battle. 
Only Aineias (^Eneas) escaped, with his son, Askanios, and 
his father, Ancht'ses, whom he carried on his shoulders out 
of the burning town. They took refuge in the mountains 
of Ida, and at last reached Italy, where ^Eneas became the 
founder of a new race. 

Menelaos found his wife Helena again, and was reconciled 
to her. 

" And strong and fair the south wind blew, and fleet 

Their voyaging, so merrily they fled 
To win that haven where the waters sweet 

Of clear Eurotas with the brine are wed ; 

And swift their chariots and their horses sped 
To pleasant Lacedaemon, lying low 

Grey in the shade of sunset, but the head 
Of tall Taygetus like fire did glow." " 

The Trojan women were assigned to the Greek heroes 
as prizes of war. Hektor's wife, Andromache, was promised 
to Neoptolemos ; Kassandra, Priam's daughter, to Aga- 
memnon. The conquerors razed Troy to the ground, and 
set out for home laden with rich spoil. 

(h) The Homeward Voyage. 2 

Some of the heroes were fated never to see their home and 
friends again, for they had brought down the anger of the gods 
on them by their crimes. Atas (Ajax), son of Oileus, perished 
in a storm sent by Athene as soon as the fleet had left Troy, 

1 A. Lang. 

1 Homer, Odyssey. 

( Nostoi, Telegonia, see " Epic Cycle." 



252 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

and many others died or wandered far before they reached 
home. Nestor, Idomeneus, Diomedes, Philoktetes and Neopto- 
lemos came to their native land in safety ; but Menelaos was 
driven about on the seas, and reached Sparta many years 
later. For Agamemnon and Odysseus were reserved the 
heaviest toils ol all. 

(*") Agamemnorfs Death and Orestes' Revenge. 

Agamemnon had no remarkable adventures on his way, 
but he met with a treacherous reception in his home. His 
wife Klytaimnestra, estranged from him by his sacrifice 
of Iphigenia, had during his absence formed a union with 
Aigisthos, son of Thyestes, and with him she made a 
conspiracy to murder her husband on his return. She 
received Agamemnon with so much feigned pleasure 
and affection that he did not suspect her design, and disre- 
garded the warnings of Kassandra. Kyltaimnestra had pre- 
pared a warm bath, and as Agamemnon left it he found himself 
entangled in a curiously-netted robe. Being thus defence- 
less, he was stabbed by his wife and her paramour. Kas- 
sandra was also murdered, and the followers of the king 
were put to the sword ; only Orestes, Agamemnon's son, 
escaped, being hidden by his sister Elektra. He fled to 
Phokis, where he remained for many years under the pro- 
tection of a guest -friend of his father. Meanwhile Aigisthos 
and Klytaimnestra ruled over Argos, and enjoyed some years 
of deceptive security. 

When Orestes was grown, Apollo commanded him to 
take vengeance on his father's murderers, promising him 
protection in the act. Orestes went at once to Mykenai 
with his faithful friend Pylades, made himself known to his 
sister Elektra, but caused his mother to be told the false 
news that he was dead. At this Klytaimnestra and Aigis- 



VI.] ORESTES 253 

thos broke out into expressions of joy and triumph. Then 
the two youths could no longer refrain, but arose and slew 
them both. 

This murder of a mother, although a just act of revenge 
and commanded by Apollo, could not but bring its own 
punishment. Scarcely was the deed accomplished, when 
the Erinyes appeared on the track of Orestes, and they 
pursued him from country to country. When he came to 
Delphi and made complaint to Apollo, he was told that if 
he would go to Tauris and bring the image of the goddess 
Artemis to Greece he should be cleansed from his guilt. 

Now, Iphigenia was priestess of Artemis in Tauris, and by 
the law of the temple she must sacrifice all strangers who 
came thither. As soon as Orestes and Pylades landed, they 
were captured and brought to the temple for sacrifice. 
Chance made the brother and sister known to each other ; 
Orestes told Iphigenia all that had passed, and what Apollo 
had commanded, and together they escaped, bearing the 
image of Artemis. 

Yet the Erinyes did not cease to pursue Orestes. Then 
Apollo sent him to Athens to stand his trial for nrurder 
before the Areiopagos. The Erinyes were the accusers, 
Apollo defended the accused, and Athene herself presided 
over the court. The votes of the judges for "guilty " and 
" not guilty '' were equal in number. Then Athene laid a 
white stone in the urn, and Orestes was acquitted — hence 
arose the Athenian practice always to acquit the accused 
when the votes were equal. On such occasions a white 
stone, called " Athene's stone," or " the stone of mercy," 
was added to the urn. 

Now Orestes was clear of blood- guiltiness and freed from 
the pursuit of the avenging goddesses. He entered on his 
ancestral kingdom of Mykenai, married Hermione, daughter 



254 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

of Menelaos and Helen, and ruled over Sparta after 
Menelaos' death. * 

(k) The Odyssey, or Return of Odvsseus. 
Long after the other heroes had returned to their homes, 
Odysseus was wandering about on the seas. He sailed 
away from Troy with all his ships, men and spoil, and after 
a few minor adventures which cost him the lives of some of 
his companions he came to the country of the Kyklopes 
(Cyclopes), dreadful monsters who had one eye in the middle 
of the forehead. Odysseus and the men of his own ship went 
into the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemos, son of Poseidon, 
while the other ships rode at anchor in shelter of a, 
neighbouring island. The Cyclops, when he had fed his 
flocks, returned to his cave, rolled a large stone which many 
men could not move before the mouth, and devoured two 
of Odysseus' companions for his supper. Then he fell 
asleep. The next morning he devoured two more, drove 
out his flocks, and rolled the stone before the hole, so that 
Odysseus was caught as in a trap. This went on for three 
days, and then Odysseus thought of a plan to get free. He 
could easily have killed the Cyclops in his sleep, but then 
he and his comrades would all have been starved to death 
in the cave, for none of them could roll away the stone. So 
he made the Cyclops drink freely of some strong wine he 
had brought with him in a skin, and when the monster fell 
into a drunken sleep he put out his one eye with a glowing 
pointed stake. Mad with pain, the giant sprang up and 
felt for the strangers, but in vain. As soon as it was light 
he pushed the stone back to make a narrow passage, and, 
sitting down, he spread his hands over the opening, thinking 

, i Johannes Bolte, <s De Monumentis ad Odysseam pertinentibus." 
I J. E. Harrison, " Myths of the Odyssey in Art and Literature." 



ODYSSEUS AND THE CYCLOPS 255 



that the men would try to escape, and that he would 
then easily be able to catch them. But Odysseus bound 
the sheep in pairs together, and under each pair he tied one 
of his companions, while he himself clung to the shaggy 
wool underneath the great ram, the leader of the herd. 
Then Odysseus drove all the sheep out, and the ram went 
last ; but the Cyclops only felt the wool on their backs, and 
suspected nothing. So Odysseus and his companions 
escaped and reached their ship. As they sailed away, 
Odysseus shouted his name to the Cyclops and abused 
him in round terms, and the Cyclops tore off masses of 
rock and threw them at the ship, but could not strike it. 
Finding his efforts vain, he prayed to his father Poseidon 
to avenge him and punish Odysseus. Poseidon heard the 
prayer, and made Odysseus wander for ten years more till 
he had lost all his companions. After leaving the land of 
the Cyclopes the Greeks came first to At'o/os, king of the 
winds, who received them hospitably and sent a favourable 
wind to take them on their journey, giving them also 
the storm-winds shut up in a bag. The companions of 
Odysseus, being curious to know what was in the bag, 
and supposing that it contained treasure, opened it while 
he was asleep. All the winds flew out, and raised such a 
storm and whirlwind that the ships were again driven 
out of their course and tossed about as the sport of the 
waves. 

Nor was this the end of their troubles. Landing from 
their ships on the coast of the Laestrygones, they were 
attacked by these cruel giants, who threw huge blocks of 
stone till they had overwhelmed and destroyed all the 
ships, with their crews, except one. 

The men who survived next came to the enchantress 
Kirke y sister of Medeia. By a magic potion she changed all 



256 MYTHS OF HEROES [cha* 

the Greeks in the company into swine. Odysseus, by help 
of the gods, resisted the spell, and forced her to restore his 
friends to their human shape. After this Kirke became 
more friendly, entertained the Greeks for a year, and advised 
Odysseus to go down to the underworld x and ask Teiresias 
what should befal him in the future. Odysseus obeyed, and 
came safely to Hades, where he saw the ghosts of the heroes 
who had fallen in the Trojan war. He saw, too, the ghost 
of his mother, who wept and mourned as she revealed to 
him the sad condition of his palace at home. After this 
descent into Hades, Odysseus returned to take farewell of 
Kirke, and she gave him good advice for his farther 
journey. 

Odysseus passed the Sirens safely, and then entered the 
dangerous strait guarded on the one side by Charybdis, a 
monster who lived in the water and dragged all ships into 
her whirlpool, and on the other by Scylla, a six-headed 
beast, who lurked behind a rock and devoured sailors as 
they passed. Odysseus chose to lose some of his men rather 
than that his entire crew should perish. He therefore 
avoided Charybdis and steered nearer to Scylla, who seized 
and devoured six of his companions. The others escaped 
alive. 

Against the warnings of Teiresias and of Kirke, the 
Greeks now landed on the coast of Trinakria, where the 
sacred oxen of the sun-god were pastured. It was forbidden 
under heavy penalties to touch these cattle ; but while 
Odysseus was asleep his companions stole some oxen, 
sacrificed them and prepared a meal of their flesh. The 
god punished this sacrilege by destroying all the remaining 
companions of Odysseus in a dreadful storm. He himself 

i Odyssey, xi. 
Pausanias,x. 25 and 27. 



vi.J PENELOPE 257 

barely escaped death. After tossing about for nine days, 
clinging to the wreck of his ship, he was thrown on the 
lonely island of the nymph Kalypso, who fell in love with 
him, and kept him with her for seven years. 

Odysseus scorned her love and her offers to make him 
immortal. He would often sit and weep on the shore, gazing 
longingly out over the blue sea, and praying that he might see 
the smoke of his own hearth once more before he died. At 
last the gods took pity on him, and commanded Kalypso to let 
him go. So Odysseus built a raft and again committed 
himself to the waves. Poseidon, whose anger still raged, 
shattered the raft, and if Leukothea l had not thrown her 
veil to Odysseus he would have been drowned. Supporting 
himself by the veil, he swam to the island of the Phaiacians, 
whose king, Alkinoos, received him kindly, and after hearing 
the recital of his adventures, sent him, loaded with rich 
presents, to his own country. Here he found his wife 
Penelope still true to him, although constantly besieged by 
the princes of the neighbouring islands, who urged her to 
choose one of them as a second husband. Meanwhile they 
devoured and wasted the goods and substance of the master 
of the house. 

Telemachos, son of Odysseus, now a grown youth, had 
just returned from a journey which he took to find news of 
his father. The father and son met at the hut of a faithful 
swineherd, and consulted together how to take vengeance on 
the suitors. With the help of Athene, they slew them all, 
in spite of their desperate resistance. Odysseus then made 
himself known to his wife Penelope and to his aged father 
Laertes, who lived alone and apart and cultivated his 
garden. A revolt of the inhabitants of Ithaka, who 

1 O. Crusius, " Beitrage zur griechischen Mythologie und Religions- 
geschichle," 1886, Tbomasschule programme, No. 498. 
l8 



258 MYTHS OF HEROES [chap. 

resented the slaughter of their chiefs, was put down by 
Odysseus with the help of those of his subjects who 
remained faithful to him, and then he reigned happily 
and peacefully till his death. 

(/) Aineias (JEneas). 
The only Trojan hero who escaped death or slavery was 
/Eneas, one of the house of Dardanos. Led by his divine 
mother Aphrodite, he escaped from the burning city of 
Troy to the mountain range of Ida, carrying his old father 
Anchises on his shoulders and holding his little son Askanios 
(Ascanius) by the hand. Together they left Asia to found 
a new home far away. After many wanderings they came 
to Epeiros. There they heard that Neoptolemos was dead, 
and that Ilelenos, son of Priam, had succeeded to the 
throne, and married Andromache, widow of Hektor. After 
spending some time in joy and feasting with their kindred 
the Trojans continued their journey. They landed in Sicily, 
and there Anchises died. After more wanderings they 
came to Carthage, where Queen Dido received them hos- 
pitably, and would have shared her throne with ./Eneas 
had the gods allowed him to stay. But they commanded 
him to go to Italy and seek an alliance with King Latinus. 
The king received /Eneas kindly, but strife arose with 
the inhabitants of the country. After defeating Turnus, 
his rival, in single combat, /Eneas took possession of the 
new home assigned him by the Fates, married Lavinia, 
daughter of Latinus, and lived long and happily with her 
in the city called by her name. The story of the adventures 
of ^Eneas is told by the poet Virgil. The noblest families 
of Rome loved to trace their descent from the Trojan settlers, 
and the great Caius Julius Caesar was told by the poets and 
flatterers of his time that the Julian Gens to which he 
belonged took its name from fti/us or Ascanius, son of /Eneas. 



INDEX 



Abai, 182 

Abantes, 182 

Abas, 181, 182 

Abdera, 208 

AbderOs, 208 

Achaia (Achfea), 123 

Achaians (Achaeans), 179, 198 

Achaios, 198 

Acheloos, 129, 130, 214 

Acheron, 162 

Achilleus (Achilles), 54, 71, 82, 108, 

121, 128, l62, 212, 213, 223, 237- 
248 

Actaion (Action), 63, 72, 88, 188 

Admetos (Admetus), 54, 221, 224 

Adonis, 95, 97 

Adrasteia, 40 

Adrastos, 182, 229, 230, 231, 232 

/Egean Sea, 219 

^Eneas, 50, 95, 96, 98, 234, 251, 

258 
^schines, 3 
/Eschylus, 3, 192 

yEsculapius, 78 ; see also Asklepios 
/Etna, 109 
Agamemnon, 63, 202, 203, 237- 

243, 248, 251, 252 
Aganippe, 82 
Agathodaimon, 40 
Agave, 142, 1 88 
Agenor, 180, 187, 198 
Ages of Man 

Golden Age, 21, 100, 117, 158, 

175 
Silver Age, 21 



Brazen Age, 21, 22 

Iron Age, 21 , 22 
Aglaia, 106, 109 
Aglauros, 196 
Aiakos (.-Eacus), 163 
Aias (Ajax), 212, 245, 247, 251 
Aides (Aidoneus, Hades), 13, 15, 

16, 21, 42, 129, 133, 135, 140, 

161, 163-167, 183, 185, 211 
Aie'tes, 66, 226, 227 
Aigai (.Egae), 123 
Aigeus (/Egeus), 198-200, 216, 218- 

220, 227 
Aigina (/Egina), 34, 73, 96, 185, 

245 
Aigisthos (/Egisthus), 203, 252 
Aigle, 68 

Aigyptiadai (^Egyptiadae), 1S1 
Aigyptos (/Egyptus), 180 
Aineias, see ^Eneas 
Aiolians (/Eolians), 179, 185 
Aiolos (/Eolus), king of the winds, 

76, 173, 255 
Aiolos, son of Hellen, 179, 185, 224 
Aison (/Eson), 223 
Aithiopoi (Ethiopi), 67 
Aithra (/Ethra), 216 
Aitolians (/Etolians), 63 
Akrisios (Acrisius), 181, 1S2, 184 
Aktaios (Actaeus), 195 
Alekto, 13, 168 

Alexander the Great, 64, 65, 73 
Alexandria, 73 
Alexandros, 233 
Alkaios (Alcseus), 1S4, 203 



2(5o 



INDEX 



Alkamenes, 73 

Alkimede, 223 

Alkinoos, 257 

Alkippe, 196 

Alkmaion (Alcmaeon), 230 

Alkmene, 23, 28, 184, 198, 203, 
204 

Althaia (Althaea), 105, 220-222 

Alpheios (Alphseus), 130, 208 

Amaltheia, 14, 19 

Amazons, 91, 186, 209, 219, 245, 
246 

Amor, 98 

Amphiaraos, 182, 212, 229-232 

Amphion, 44, 57, 89, 189, 190, 201 

Amphitrite, 121, 124, 125, 128 

Amphitryon, 184, 203, 204, 206 

Amyklai (Amyclae), 57, 58, 234 

Amykos (Amycus), 225 

Amymone, 121, 181 

Anadyomene, see Aphrodite 

Anakreon, 3 

Anchinoe, 180 

Anchises, 95, 96, 234, 251, 258 

Ancile, 93 

Androgeos, 199, 218 

Andromache, 244, 251, 258 

Andromeda, 120, 184, 202 

Ankaios (Ancseus), 221 

Antaios (Antaeus), 210 

Anteros, 99, 103 

Anthedon, 126 

Anthesteria, 146 

Antigone, 192, 228, 230, 232 

Antiope, 57, 89, 189, 190, 219 

Antium, 78 

Apaturia, 109 

Apelles, 3, 97 

Aphareus, 235 

Aphrodite (Venus), 9, 28, 32, 35, 
43, 52, 62, 89, 93-96, 98, 99, 
101, 103-106, 109, 135, 154, 
188, 224, 233-235, 258 
Anadyomene, 96 
Ourania, 94, 95 
Pandemos, 94, 219 
Apollo, 9, 23, 32, 34, 35, 43, 52, 
56-62, 66, 67, 72, 73, 77, 78, 
80, 82, 86, 88, 89, 101, 104, 
120, 148, 152, 172, 187, 196, 



197, 209, 212, 219, 229, 234, 
242, 247, 249, 252, 253 

Delphinios, 54, 58 

Hyakinthos, 57 

Musagetes, 60, 61 

Nomios, 54 

Phoibos, 52, 55, 69 

Pythios, 56 

Sauroktonos, 61 
Apollon, see Apollo 
Apsyrtos, 226 

Apples of the Hesperides, 210 
Archemoros, 231 
Aieiopagos (Areopagus), 91, 196, 

253 
Ares (Mars), 9, 89-91, 95, 99, 109, 

185, 187, 188, 196, 201, 224, 

226, 229, 244, 245 
Argo, 123, 223, 225, 227 
Argolis, 32, 206 
Argonauts, 46, 77, 87, 123, 129, 

176, 180, 192, 212, 219, 221, 

223, 226 
Argos (the City), 50, 121, 165, 179, 

181, 1S2, 184, 185, 201-203, 

209, 216, 229, 238, 252 
Argos (Argus) (the watcher), 43, 44 
Ariadne, 105, 143, 199, 218, 219, 

220 
Arion, 88, 121, 232 
Aristaios (Aristaeus), 72, 188 
Aristophanes, 3 
Aristotle, 3 
Arkadia (Arcadia), 10, 24, 124, 153, 

208, 221, 222 
Arkas, 72 

Artemis (Diana), 9, 23, 52, 56, 57, 
61-63, 6 5> 66, 69, 72, 7^> 77> 
135, 148, 150, 168, 172, 188, 
207, 239, 240, 253 

of Ephesus, 63 

-Hekate, 73 

Orthia, 65 

Orthosia, 65 

of Tauris, 65 
Askanios (Ascanius), 251, 258 
Asklepiadai, 79 
Asklepiaia, 78 
Asklepios (/Esculapius), 56, 77-81, 

248 



INDEX 



26 1 



Asopos, 185 
Astarte, 94 
Asteria, 73 

Astraios (Astrseus), 69, 70, 76, 87 
Astyanax, 244 
Atalanta, 221, 222, 229 
Ate, 39 

Athamas, 128, 188, 224 
Athene (Minerva), 9, 44-46, 48, 50, 
51, 56, 62, 63, 89, 101, 106, 
109, 120, 135, 152, 169, 170, 
177, 1S0, 183, 185, 187, 195, 
196, 208, 213, 218, 223, 233, 
234, 248, 249, 251, 257 

Ergane, 48, 51 

Glaukopis, 48 

Gorgophone, 46 

Hippia, 48 

Kourotrophos, 47 

Nike, 48 

Pallas, 22, 28, 31, 45, 51, 89, 
195, 220 

Parthenos, 48 

Polias, 48 

Promachos, 50 

Soteira, 48 

Tritogeneia, 45 

Tritonia, 45 
Athens, 22, 25, 34, 40, 48, 50, 62, 

65. 73. 77, 99, i°4. 105, 108, 

123, 138, 145, 146, 154, 167, 168, 

184, 197, 199, 200, 216, 217-221, 

227, 230, 253 
Athos, Mount, 77 
Atlas, 41, 125, 176, 183, 210 
Atreus, 202, 203 
Atrium, 115 
Atropos, 37, 220 
Attica, 47, 51, 104, 109, 120, 136, 

179, 195, 196, 19S, 208, 216, 

220, 230 
Attika, see Attica 
Attis, 17, 18 
Auge, 213 

Augeian Stable, 207 
Augeias (Augjeas), 207, 208 
Augur, 156 
Augustus, 118 
Aulis, 63, 238, 239, 240 
Aurora, 69 



Autonoe, 1S8 
Auxo, 34, 106 
Aventine Hill, 97 
Avernus, 164 

Bacchanalia, 148 

Bacchante, S3, 87, 145 

Bacchos, see Dionysos 

Bacchus, 147, 150' 

Battos, 44 

Baucis, 24 

Bebrykes, 225 

Bellerophon, 47, 69, 176, 185, 186 

Bellona, 92 

Belos, 180 

Bia, 15 

Bias, 182 

Bceotia, 81, 90, 105, 124, 126, 145, 

179, 186, 1S7, 195, 19S, 216 
Bona Dea, 156 

Boreas, 69, 76, 77, 171, 224, 225 
Branchidai, 54 
Brazen Age, see Ages of Man 
Brennus, 56 
Briseis, 242, 243 
Busiris, 210 

Cacus, 210 

Cresar, Julius, 258 

Campania, 109 

Campus Martius, 92, 1 10, 124, 165 

Capella, 20 

Capitolinus, see Jupiter 

Carthage, 258 

Castor, 156, see also Kastor 

Caucasus, 177, 210 

Centaur, 77, 192-195, 207, 214, 215, 

220, 223 
Cerberus, see Kerberos 
Cerealia, 139 
Ceres, 139 
Chalkeia, 51, 108 
Chaos, 8, 98 

Charites, 28, 35, 62, 105, 106, 109 
Charitesia, 106 
Charon, 42, 162 
Charybdis, 256 

Cheiron, 77, 192, 216, 223, 239 
Chimaira, 185 
Chlamys, 44 



262 



INDEX 



Chloris, 36 

Chryse, 242 

Chryse'is, 242 

Chryses, 242 

Chrysippos, 202 

Chrysaor, 170 

Chthonia, 196 

Cicero, 3 

Circe, see Kirke 

Circus Maximus, 124 

Cloacina, see Venus 

Colossus of Rhodes, 66 

Compitales, 115 

Compitalia, 115 

Corinth, 62, 94, 123, 128, 163, 182,. 

185, 191, 216, 227 
Cretan Bull, 208 
Crete, 14, 16, 25, 58, 101, 105, 120, 

138, 187, 198, 200, 208, 218, 220, 

235 
Creusa, see Kreousa 
Cyclops, 12, 15, 56, 108, 109, 128, 

164, 254, 255 
Cyprus, 94 
Cultus, 6 

Daidalos, 199, 200 
Daimones (Demons), 40 
Daktyls, 109 
Damastes, 217 
Danae, 182, 183, 184 
Danaides, 164, 180, 181 
Danaos, 121, 180, 181 
Daphne, 59 
Dardanos, 32, 258 
Deianira, 214, 215, 220 
Deidamia, 238 
Deimos, 91 
Deino, 168 
Delia, 59, 220 
Delos, 52, 109, 220 
Delphi, 53-56, in, 112,253 
Delphic Oracle, see Oracle 
Delphic Games, see Games 
Delphinion, 58 

Demeter (Ceres), 5, 7,9, 13, 16, 23, 
73, 88, 104, 120, 121, 124, 129 
133-136, 138-140, 161, 166 
Thesmophoros, 135 
Demigods, 174 sq. 



Demophon, 136, 137 

Demosthenes, 3 

Deukalion, 22, 179 

Dike, 35 

Dikte, 14 

Diktys, 180 

Dione, 94 

Diomedes, 49, 89, 208, 246, 248, 

249, 252 
Dionysia, 145, 146 
Dionysos, 18, 23, 35, 42, 45, 52,64, 
103-106, 108, no, 120, 126, 
128, 141-148, 151-154, 188, 
219, 220, 230 

Lusios, 145 
Dioskouroi (Dioscuri), 156, 235, 236 
Dirke, 189, 190 
Dis, 165, 166 
Dodona, 25, 94 
Dorians, 58, 179 
Doris, 127 
Doros, 179 
Dryads, 150 

Echion, 188 

Echo, 96, 150 

Egypt, 71, 180, 195, 210 

Eileithyia, 62 

Eirene, 35 

Eiresione, 59 

Elaphebolia, 65 

Elektra, 31, 252 

Elektryon, 184 

Eleusinian Mysteries t see Mysteries 

Eleusis, 5, 7, 136, 138, 139, 196 

216 
Elis, 25, 90, 96, 201, 207 
Elysium, 165, 172 
Endymion, 69 
Enipeus, 223 
Enkelados, 46 
Enyalios, 91 
Enyo, 91, 168 
Eos (Aurora), 66, 69, 70, 71, 76, 246, 

247 
Epaphos, 67, 180 
Epeios, 249 
Epeiros, 258 

Ephesos (Ephesus), 63-65 
Epidauros, 78, 216 



lA'DEX 



263 



Epigoni, 228, 232, 233 

Epimetheus, 176-179 

Epione, 81 

Epirus, 25 

Epopeus, 189 

Erato, 86 

Erechtheus, 196, 197, 216, 220 

Ergane, see Athene 

Erichthonios, 47, 109, 196 

Eridanos, 67, 68, 210 

Erinyes, 12, 55, 121, 167, 168, 253 

Eriphyle, 229 

Eris, 91, 233 

Eros, 8, 98, 99, 101, 102-105 

Victor, 99 
Erotes, 103 
Erotidia, 99 
Erymanthian Boar, 207 
Erymanthos, 207 
Erythia, 209 

Eteokles, 182, 191, 228-232 
Ethiopia, 71, 120 
Euboia (Euboea), 182, 214 
Eumenides, 167, 230 
Eumolpidai, 7, 138 
Eumolpos, 196 
Euneos, 231 
Eunomia. 35 
Euphrosyne, 106 
Euripides, 3, 228 
Europa, 187, 198 
Euros, 69, 76 

Eurydike, 86, 87, 150, 1S2 
Euryale, 169 
Eurynome, 106, 107 
Eurypvlos, 248 
Eurystheus, 202, 204, 206-209, 21 1 

215 
Eurytos, 193, 211, 214 

Fate, 2, 37, 48, 247 
Fatua, 156 
Fatuus, 155 
Fauna, 156 
Faunalia, 155 
Faunus, 155, 156 
Flamen Cerealis, 139 
Flamen Pomonalis, 160 
Flora, 16c 
Floralia, 160 



Fortuna, 37 
Forum, 118 
Furies, 167 

Gaia (Gcea), 12, 13, 15, 17, 31, 34, 

72. S3, 109, 130, 133, 195, 196, 

210 
j Galanthis, 28 
J Galateia, 128 
Gamelia, see Hera 
Games — 

Delian, 

Delphic, 53, 59 

Isthmian, 5, 8, 123 

Nemean, 5, 8, 26, 231 

Olympian, 5, 8, 25, 26, 53, 123 

Pythian, 5, 8 

Roman or Great, 26 

Secular, 166 
Ganymedes, 32 
Ge, see Gaia 
Gelanor, 181 
Genetrix, see Venus 
Genii, 103 
Genius, 40 
Geryon, 209, 210 
Giants, 13, 46 
Gigantes, see Giants 
Glauke, 227 
Glaukopis, see Athene 
Glaukos, 185 
Glaukos Pontios, 126 
Golden Age, see Ages of Man 
Golden Fleece, 87, 223, 224, 226, 

227 
Gorgons, 168-170, 183 
Gorgophone, see Athene 
Gortys (Gortyna), 187 
Graces (Gratise), see Charites 
Graiai, 16S-170, 173 

Hades (the Underworld), 10, 87, 
136, 162, 168, 220, 256 ; see also 
Aides 

Haimon, 232 

Halimus, 138 

Halirrothios, 196 

Haloa, 138 

Hamadryads, 150 

Harmonia, 18S, 233 



264 



INDEX 



Harpies, 225 

Hebe, 23, 31, 32, 205, 215 

Hecuba, see Hekabe 

Hegemone, 106 

Hekabe, 233 

Hekate, 15, 73, 136 

Hekatoncheires, 12, 15 

Hektor, 89, 234, 241, 243-245,251, 

258 
Helena, 165, 202. 203, 235, 237, 

241, 248, 251, 254 
Helenos, 234, 247-249, 258 
Heliades, 68 
Heliaia, 66 
Helike, 123 
Helikon, 81, 82, 105 
Helios (Sol), 61, 66-69, 136 177, 

209, 226 
Helle, 224 

Hellen, 179, 185, 224 
Hellenes, 25, 48, 179 
Hellespont, 224, 233 
Hemera, 66 
Hephaistos (Vulcan), 9, 23, 43, 45, 

51, 95, 106-110, 177, 178, 196, 

226, 244, 246, 247 
Hera, 9, 13, 16, 22, 23, 27-32, 35, 
43, 44, 46, 52, 62, 89, 107-109, 
III, 121, 128, 141, 142, 180, 
204, 206, 210, 215, 223, 233, 
234. 236 

Gamelia, 27 

Teleia, 27 

Zygia, 27 
Herakles (Hercules), 16, 23, 26, 28, 

32, 42, 44, 46, 56, 86, 90, 99, 120, 

126, 143, 162, 176, 177, 179, 180, 

184, 186, 198, 201, 203-216, 218- 

220, 223-225, 239, 240, 248 
Heraklidai, 179, 215 
Heraion, 28 
Hercules, 215 
Herm, 42 
Hermaia, 42 

Hermes, 9, 23, 24, 27, 31, 41-44, 
101, 106, 136, 142, 148, 153, 
162, 177, 180, 183, 196, 215, 
224 

Pychopompos, 42 
Hermione, 253 



Herodotos, 3 

Heroes, 174^. 

Herostratos, 64 

Herse, 196 

Hesiod, 178 

Hesione, 120, 209, 212, 213 

Hesperides, 210 

Hesperos (Vesper), 71 

Hestia, 9, 13, 16, III 

Hilaira, 235 

Himeros, 103 ' 

Hippia, see Athene 

Hippodameia, 193, 201, 202, 220 

Hippokobntidai, 213 

Hippokrates, 79 

Hippokrene, 82 

Hippolyta, 209, 219 

Hippolytos, 96 

Hipponobs, 229 

Hippotes, 76 

Homer, 3, 30, 88, 89 

Horace, 3 

Horai (Horae), 28, 34, 35 

Horses of Diomede, 208 

Hyades, 72 

Hyakinthos, 57, 58; see a/.w Apollo 

Hybris, 39 

Hydra, 206 

Hygieia, 8 1 

Hylas, 72, 225 

Hyllos, 214 

Hymen (Hymenseus), 104, 105 

Thalassios, 105 
Hymenaios, see Hymen 
Hyperboreans, 53, 67 
Hyperion, 12, 66, 69 
Hypermnestra, l8l 
Hypnos, 170, 171 

Iasion 

Ida, 25, 32, 234,251,258 

Idas, 221, 235 

Idomeneus, 235, 252 

Ikarian Sea, 200 

Ikarios, 237 

Ikaros, 200 

Ikelos, 172 

Ilion, 233, 239, 241, 247 

Ilissos, 65 

Illyria, 188 



INDEX 



265 



Inachian Flood, 176, 179 
Inachos, 28, 121, 179, 180, 181 
Incubus, 155 
Ino Leukothea, 128, 129, 188, 224, 

257 
Io,28, 43. 44, 67, 180 
Iohates, 185, 186 
Iokaste, 190, 191, 228 
Iolaos, 206, 207 
Iole, 211, 214 
Iolkos, 221, 223, 227 
Ion, 196, 197, 198 
Ion^ns, 63, 123, 179, 216 
Ionian Sea, 52 

Iphigeneia, 240, 242, 252, 253 
Iphikles, 204 
Iphis, 229 
Iphitos, 211 

Iris, 27, 28, 31, 215, 236 
Iron Age, see Ages of Man 
Islands of the Blest, 22, 165, 175 
Ismene, 192, 228 
Isthmian Games, see Games 
Ithaka, 237, 257 
Itylos, see Itys 
Itys, 197 

lulus, 258 
Ixion, 164 
lynx, 28 

Janicuxus, 158 

Janus, 117, 118, 158 

Japetos, 12, 15, 176 

Jason, 96, 221, 223, 224, 226-22S 

230 
Juno, 29 — 

Lucina, 29 
Junones, 29 
Jupiter, 92, 117, 160 

Optimus Maximus, 26 

Capitolinus, 26 
Juvenal, 3 
Juventas, 32 

Kadmf.ia (Cadmsea), 187 
Kadmos (Cadmus), 128, 186-189, 

224, 233 
Kaineus, 194. 
Kalais, 77, 224, 225 
Kalaureia, 123, 188 



Kalchas, 239, 240, 242 

Kalliope, S3, 86, 104 

Kallirrhoe, 32 

Kallisto, 72 

Kalydon, 63, 77, 90, 176, 1S0. 214. 

220, 221. 223 
Kalydonian Boar, see Kalydon 
Kalypso, 257 
Kambyses, 71 

Kapaneus, 182, 229, 231, 232 
Karia (Caria), 69, 94 
Karneia, 58 
Karpo, 34 

Kassandra, 234, 247, 251, 252 
Kassiopeia, 183 
Kastor, 221, 223, 235, 236 
Kauko, 156 
Kekropeia, 195 
Kekropides, 196 
Kekrops, 25, 195, 196, 197 
Keleos, 136 
Kentaur, see Centaur 
Kephalos, 70, 71 
Kepheus, 1S0, 183, 184, 213 
Kerberos, 42, 162, 211 
Keres, 91 
Kerkopes, 212 
Kerkyon,2i7 
Kerykeion, 31, 44 
Keryneian Stag, 207 
Keryx, 196 
Keto, 129, 168, 169 
Kimon, 220 
Kinyras, 95 

Kirke, 66, 73, 156, 255,256 
Kithairon, 189, 190, 206 
Kladeos, 208 
Kleitos, 70 
Kleonai, 206 
Kleta, 106 
Klio, 83 
Klotho, 37 
Klymene, 67, 176 
Klytaimnestra, 235, 24c, 252 
Knidos, 94 
Koios, 12 
Kokytos, 162 

Kolchis, 176, 223, 224, 226, 227 
Kolonos, 230 
Kore, 138, 139, 166 



266 



INDEX 



Koronis, J? 
Kos, 79, 213 

Kourotrophos, see Athene 
Kratos, 15 
Kreios, 12 

Kreon, 206, 227, 230-232 
Kreousa (Creusa), 197, 198, 227 
Kreta, sec Crete 
Krommyon, 216, 221 
Kronia, 16 
Kronidai, 14 
Kronion, see Zeus 

Kronos, 11-14, 16, 19, 21, 27, 83, 
III, 134, 161, 163, 167, 175, 176 
Kuretes, 14 
Kybele, see Rhea 
Kyklades, 52 
Kyklops, see Cyclops 
Kyknos, 68, 90 
Kyllene, 41, 43 
Kypros, see Cyprus 
Kythera (Cythera), 94 
Kyzikos, 224 

Labdakos, 188-190, 197 

Labyrinth, 199, 200, 218, 219 

Lachesis, 37 

Ladon, 210 

Laertes, 237, 257 

Laestrygones, 255 

Laios, 190-192 

Lakedaimon, 182, 213, 221 

Lakonia, 65 

Lampetia, 68 

Laokoon, 249, 250 

Laomedon, 54, 56, 120, 209, 212, 

213 
Lapithai, 192-194 
Lararium, 116 
Lares, 115, 116 
Larvae, 13, 116 
Latinus, 258 
Latium, 117 
Latmos, 69 
Lavinia, 258 
Learchos, 224 
Leda, 235 
Lemnos, 95, 106, 108, 109, 224, 

240, 241, 248 
Lemures, 116 



Lemuria, 116 

Lenaia, 146 

Lenaion, 146 

Lerna, 121, 206 

Lesbos, 246 

Leto, 23, 28, 52, 55, 57, 61, 73, 

163 
Leukippos, 235 
Leukosia, 129 

Leukothea, see Ino Leukothea 
Liber, 147 
Liberalia, 148 

Libitina, 167 ; see also Venus 
Libya, 180, 187, 209, 210 
Lichas, 215 
Ligeia, 129 
Linos, 86, 88, 204 
Lipari Islands, 76 
Litai, 39 
Livy, 3 

Lubentina, 167 
Luna, 69 
Lupercal, 155 
Lupercalia, 155 
Luperci, 155 
Lydia, 57, 150, 212 
Lykaon, 24 
Lykia, 182, 185, 198 
Lykastos, 199 
Lykos, 189, 198 
Lykourgos (Lycurgus),65, 142, 143, 

230 
Lykomedes, 220, 238 
Lynkeus, 181, 221. 235 
Lysippos, 27 

Machaon, 248 

Maia, 23, 41, 156 

Maion, 17 

Mainads, 142, 143, 145, 153, 188 

Manes, 116 

Marathon, 65, 120, 154, 208 

Marathonian Bull, 208, 218 

Mars, 91-93, 114, 156 

Gradivus, 92 
Marspiter, 91 
Marsyas, 17,57, 152 
Matronalia, 29 
Medeia (Medea), 73, 96, 218, 226- 

228, 255 



LXDEX 



267 



Meditrina, 160 




Mysia, 213, 239 


Meditrinalia, 160 




Mysteries of — 


Medusa, 46, 4S. 121, 169, 170 


1S3 


Eleusis, 5, 88, 104, 13S, 139. 


Megaira, 13, 168 




166 


Megapenthes, 184 




Mithras, 75 


Megalesia, 18 






Megara, 197-199, 206 




Naiads, 150 


Melampus, 182, 229 




Narkissos, 96, 150 


Meleagros (Meleager), 63, 77 


90, 


Nauplios, 181 


220-223 




Naxos, 124, 143. 219 


Melikertes Palaimon, 128, 129 


224 


Nekromanteia, 163 


Melpomene, 83 




Neleus, 213, 223 


Memnon, 71, 246, 247 




Nemea, 230 


Menelaos, 126, 165, 202, 203, 


235- 


Nemean Games, see Gaines 


237, 248, 251, 252, 254 




Nemean Lion, 206 


Menoikeus, 190, 231 




Nemesia, 40 


Menoitos, 176, 23S 




Nemesis, 39, 40 


Mercurius, 45 




Neoptolemos, 54, 23S, 24S, 251, 


Merope, 72 




252, 258 


Messene, 65 




Nepheli, 224 


Metageitnia, 59 




Neptunus (Neptune), 124 


Metion, 198 




Nereids, 124, 127-129. 184 


Metis, 22, 34, 45 




Nereus, 127, 132, 210 


Midas, 57, 152 




Nessos, 214, 215 


Milanion, 229 




Nestor, 193, 213, 223, 237, 252 


Miletus, 54 




Nike, 15, 31 ; see also Athene 


Minerva, 51, 52, 112 




Nile, 130 


Minos, 105, 14-, 163, 176, 


19S- 


Niobe, 53, 57, 63, 190. 201 


200, 208, 218 




Nisos, 198 


Minotaur, 199, 200, 218 




Nomios, see Apollo 


Minstrels, 86 




Notos, 69, 76 


Mithras, 74, 75 




Numa Pompilius, 93, 112, 114, 118 


Mnemosyne, 12, 23, 81, 86 




157, 160 


Moirai, 34, 37, 220 




Nykteus, 189 


Morning Star, see Phosplioros 




Nymph aia, 149 


Morpheus, 172, 173 




Nymphs — 


Mors, 170 




Melian, 13 


Moschylos, 108, 109 




Sea, 72 


Mulciber, no 




Nysa, 142 


Musagetes, see Apollo 




Nyx, 173 


Musaios, 88 






Murcia, see Venus 




Ocean, see Okeanos 


Muses, 23, 32, 35, 54, 59, 62, 


81- 


Odysseus, 49, 72, 76, 128, 130, 237, 


88, 105, 106, 129, 170, 247 




238, 240, 246-250, 252, 254-25S 


Mycale, 123 




CEdipus, 190, 191, 228, 230,232 


Mycenae, 184, 202, 203, 206- 


209, 


CEta, 215 


221, 252, 253 




Ogyges, 179 


Mykenai, see Mycenae 




Ogygian Flood, 176, 179 


Myrmidons, 243 




Oiax, 181 


Myrtilos, 202 




Oichalia, 211, 214 



268 



INDEX 



Oidipous, see CEdipus 

Oikles, 212, 229 

Oineus, 214, 220, 221, 

Oinomaos, 90, 121, 201, 202 

Okaleia, 181 

Okeanides, 130, 176 

Okeanos (Ocean), 9, 12, 15, 22, 31, 

66, 69, 121, 124, 125, 130, 132, 

150, 163, 165, 172, 209 
Olympia, 25, 26, 28, 34, 42, 45, 50, 

ill, 202 
Olympian Games, see Games 
Olympians, 9, 10, 76 
Olympos, 9, 14, 16, 31, 39, 56, 69, 

73, 78, Si, 82, 106-108, no, 143, 

148, 1S6, 201, 215, 246, 247 
Omphale, 212 
Oneiros, 172 
Opheltes, 230 
Ops, 158, 159 

Optimus Maximus, see Jupiter 
Oracle of— 

Apollo at Delphi, 34, 55, 187, 
198, 206 

Apollo at Branchidai, 54 

Asklepios at Epidaurus, 78 
Orchomenos, 105, 106, 206 
Oreads, 150 
Oreithyia, 76, 197 
Orestes, 55, 65, 168, 240, 252, 253 
Orion, 63, 70-72 
Orpheus, 42, 86-88, 129, 162, 192, 

223 
Orthia, see Artemis 
Orthosia, see Artemis 
Oschophoria, 220 
Othrys, 15 
Ourania (Urania), 84 ; see also 

Aphrodite 
Ouranidai, 12, 14, 15 
Ouranos (Uranus), II-14, 1 7, 34, 

83, 130 
Ovid, 3 

Pactolus, 152 

Palaestra, ,\2 

Palaimon, see Melikertes Palaimon 

Palamedes, 44, 181, 237, 239 

Pales, 157 

Palilia, 158 



Palladion, 49, 50, 52, 248, 250 

Palladium, 112; see also Palladion 

Pallantidai, 218 

Pallas Athene, see Athene 

Pallas, 198, 218 

Pallas (the Giant), 31, 69 

Pallor, 92 

Pan, 28, 57, 142, 145, 150, 153- 

155 
Panathenaia, 50, 196, 220 
Pandemos, see Aphrodite 
Pandion, 196 
Pandion II., 197, 198 
Pandora, 178 
Pandrosos, 196 
Paphos, 96 
Parcse, 37 
Paris, 28, 95, 202, 233, 234, 236, 

237, 247, 248 
Parnassos, 22, 82, 145, 197 
Parthenon, 22, 50 
Parthenopaios, 90, 229 
Parthenope, 129 
Parthenos, see Athene 
Pasiphae, 199 
Pasithea, 106 

Patroklos, 54, 238, 239, 243, 245 
Pavor, 92 
Pedasos, 241 

Pegasos, 47, 69, 121, 170, 185, 186 
Peirithobs, 192, 193, 211, 219, 220, 

224 
Peitho, 99, 104 
Peleus, 82, 121, 128, 212,221,223, 

233. 237. 238 
Pelias, 223, 227 
Pelion, 77, 192, 239 
Pelopidai, 202, 215 
Peloponnesos, 57, 58, 65, 201, 215 
Pelops, 121, 176, 201, 202, 215, 

216 
Penates, 114, 115 
Penelope, 237, 257 
Penthesileia, 186, 245, 246 
Pentheus, 142, 143, 1S8, 189 
Pephredo, 168 
Pergamon, 81 
Periklymenos, 213 
Periphetes, 216 
Perse, 66 



INDEX 



269 



Persephone, 23, 58, 73, 87, 95, 
129. 133. 135, 136, 161, 162, 
165-167, 211, 220 
Perses, 73 
Perseus, 46, 120, 16S-170, 176, 

182-184, 202, 204 
Pessinus, 18 
Petasos, 44 
Phaenna. 106 
Phaethon, 67, 68 
Phaethusa, 68 
Phaiacians, 257 
Phaidra, 96, 199 
Phantasos, 172 
Pharos, 126 

Pheidias, 3, 25, 27, 50, 99 
Pherai, 56, 221 
Pheraia, 73 
Philemon, 24 

Philoktetes, 215. 240,241, 248, 252 
Philomela, 196, 197 
Phineus, 1S0, 225 
Phlius, 32 
Phobetor, 172 
Phobos, 91 
Phoibe, 12, 235 
Phoibos, see Apollo 
Phokis, 182, 252 
Pholos, 207 
Phorkus, 129, 168, 169 
Phosphoros, 70, 71 
Phrixos, 224, 226 
Phrygia, 17, 18, 24, 3c, 75, 150, 

152, 201 
Phthia, 233 
Picumnus, 156 
Picus, 156 
Pieria, 81 
Pieros, 81, 82 
Pillars of Hercules, 209 
Pilumnus, 156 
Pindar, 3, 105 
Pindus, 82 
Pittheus, 216 
Plato, 3 
Pleiades, 72 
Pleisthenes, 203 

Plouton (Pluto), 42, 73, 78, 87, 108, 
134-136, 138, 161, 165, 220; see 
also Aides 



Ploutos (Plutus), 35 

Podarkes, 213 

Polias, see Athene 

Pollux, 156; see also Polydeukes 

Polos, 38 

Polyhos, 191 

Polybotes, 119 

Polydektes, 1S3, 184 

Polydeukes, 156, 221, 223.225, 235 

Polydoros, 188 

Polyhymmia, 85 

Polyneikes, 192, 228-232 

Polyphemos, 128, 254 

Pomona, 160 

Pontifex Maximus, 113 

Pontios, see Glaukos Pontios 
Poseidon (Neptune), 9, 13, 16, 21, 
45. 47. 56, 72, 76, 91. 96. 108, 
in, 119-125, 128,134, 161, 164, 
169, 180, 181, 184, 187, 195, 196, 
199, 202, 208, 209, 227, 254, 255, 

257 
Pothos, 103 

Praxiteles, 3, 42, 45, 61, 94, 97. 99 
Priamos, 202, 213, 233, 234, 241. 

244, 247, 250, 251, 258 
Priapos, 154 
Procne, 196, 197 
Proitides, 182 
Proitos, 181, 182, 184, 185 
Prokris, 70, 197 
Prokrustes, 21 7 
Promachos, see Athene 
Prometheus, 22, 45, IOI, 109, 176- 

179, 192, 210 
Proserpina, 165-167 
Proteus, 126 
Psyche, m-103 
Psychopompos, see Hermes 
Pyanepsia, 219 

Pylades, 252, 253 

Pylos, 1S2, 198, 213, 237 

Pyriphlegethon, 162 

Pyrrha, 22, 179 

Pythia, 54, 212 

Pythian Games, see Game 

Pythios, see Apollo 

Python, 53, 55, 56 

QUINQUATRIA, 52 



2/0 



INDEX 



Remus, 92, 114, 116, 155 
Rhadamanthos, 163, 165, 198 
Rhamnus, 40 
Rhea, 12-14, 16-18, 27, 64, III, 

133, 134, 143, 150, 152, 153 
Rhea-Kybele, see Rhea 
Rhea-Silvia, 114 
Rhodes, 66 
Rhodos, see Rhodes 
Roman or Great Games, see Games 
Rome, 50, 112, 113, 118 
Romulus, 92, no, 114, 116, 155 

Sacrifice, 5, 6 

Salacia, 124 

Salamis, 48, 55, 136, 154 

Salii, 93 

Sarpedon, 198 

Saturnalia, 16, 115, 1 58 

Saturnus, 156, 158, 159 

Satyrs, 145, 148, 150-152 

Sauroktonos, see Apollo 

Scirios, 72 

Scylla, 256 

Scythia, 209 

Secular Games, see Games 

Seilenos, 142, 145, 150-152 

Selene, 61, 69, 88 

Semele, 23, 128, 141, 142, 188 

Semnai, 167 

Seriphos, 183, 184 

Servius Tullius, 114, 115 

Seven against Thebes, 228 

Sicily, 76, 109, 135, 258 

Side, 28 

Sikyon, 104, 167, 189, 229 

Silen, 150, 152 

Silenus, 150 

Silvanus, 156 

Silver Age, see Ages of Man 

Silvia, see Rhea-Silvia 

Sinis, 216 

Sinon, 250 

Sintians, 106 

Sipylos, 57 

Sirens, 82,87, 129, 130, 256 

Sisyphos, 163, 185 

Skeiron, 216 

Skyros, 220, 238, 248 

Smyrna, 40 



Sol, 68, 74 

Somnus, 170 

Sophokles, 3, 192 

Soteira, see Athene 

Sparta, 58, 65, 99, 106, 202, 203, 

235, 252, 254 
Spartai, 184, 188 
Sphinx, 191 
Stars, 71 

Stheneboia, 182, 185, 186 
Sthenelos, 202, 204 
Stheno, 169 
Stymphalides, 208 
Stymphalos, 208 
Styx, 15, 31, 67, 142, 162 
Suada, 104 
Symplegades, 225 
Syrinx, 154 

Tacitus, 3 

Talos, 200 

Tantalos, 163, 190, 201 

Tarquinius Priscus, 26 

Tartaros, 15, 28, 130, 163, 170 

Tauris, 65, 240, 253 

Tegea, 213 

Teiresias, 231, 256 

Telamon, 212, 2.3, 245, 247 

Telchines, 109 

Teleia, see Hera 

Telemachos, 237, 257 

Telephos, 213, 239, 240, 248 

Telesphoros, 81 

Tellus, 139 ; see also Gaia 

Tempe, 124 

Tenedos, 250 

Tenos, 124 

Tereus, 196, 197 

Terminalia, 157 

Terminus, 157 

Terpsichore, 86 

Tethys, 12, 121, 124, 125, 130 

Teuthras, 213 

Thalassios, see Hymen 

Thalia, 83, 106 

Thallo, 34 

Thalysia, 138 

Thamyris, 82, 86, 88 

Thanatos, 170, 171, 185 

Thargelia, 58 



INDEX 



271 



Thaumas, 31 

Thebais, 228 

Theban war. 175. 176. 1S2. 228 

Thebe, 1S9 

Thebes (in Bceotia). 34, 57, 62, 63, 

89. 90, 95, 99, 141, 142, 186-189, 

191, 192, 197, 201, 206, 230-233 
Thebes (in Egypt I, 71 
Theia, 12, 60, 69 
Themis, 12, 34. 35, 55, 56, 133, 

149, 150, 233 
Themistokles, 55 
Theokritos, 3 
Thersites, 246 
Theseus, 46, 51, 58, 104, 120, 123, 

143, 176, 186, 193, 194, 200, 201, 

211, 2I6-22I, 224, 227, 230 
Thesmophoria, 135, 138 
Thesmophoros, see Demeter 
Thespiai, 99, 206 
Thessaly, 14, 56, 77, 124, 192, 207, 

219, 221, 223, 233 
The-tios, 206 
Thetis, 34, 66, 82, 107, 10S, 128, 

142, 233, 237, 242, 244, 247 
Thrace, 86, 87, 142, 196, 208 
Thyestes, 202, 203, 252 
Thukydides, 3 
Tiryns, 182, 184, 186, 211 
Tisiphone, 13, 168 
Titans, 12-15, 21, 46, 56, 69, 73, 

83, 130. I33> 176 
Tithonos, 70, 71, 246 
Tityos, 163 
Trinakria, 67, 256 
Triptolemos, 137, 163 
Tritons, 121, 124-127 
Tritogeneia, see Athene 
Tritonia, see Athene 
Tritonis, 45 
Troas, 56 
Troezene, 34, 216 
Trojan War, 175, 176, 1S1, 186, 

202, 228, 233, 236 
Troilos, 241 
Tros, 32, 212 

Troy, 28, 32, 46, 49, 57, 63, 113, 
209, 213, 233, 234, 236, 237- 
240, 243, 245, 247, 258 

First siege of, 212 



Troy, Second siege of, 241 sg 
Turnus, 258 
Tyche, 37, 39 
Tydeus, 229, 231, 246 
Tyndareus, 213, 235 
Typhceus, see Typhon 
Typhon, 15, 44, 76 
Tyrrhenians, 143 

Underworld, 256 
Underworld gods, 161, sg 

Venus, 98 

Cloacina, 98 

Genetrix, 9S 

Libitina, 98 

Murcia, 98 

Victrix, 98 
Vertumnus, 160 
Vesta, 93, 1 1 2-1 15 
Vestal virgins, 113 114 
Vestalia, 114 
Victor, see Eros 
Victoria, 98 
Victrix, see Venus 
Vulcan, 1 10 
Vulcanaha, no 

Winds, 76, 77 

Xenophon, 3 
Xuthos, 179, 197, 19S 



Zelos, 15 




Zephyros, 36, 57, 69, 76 




Zethos, 89, 1S9, 190 




Zetes, 77, 224, 225 




Zeus, 9, n, 13-16, 19, 21-29 


31, 


32, 34, 35. 37-46, 48, 50, 


52. 


56, 57, 67, 69, 72, 7s, 76 


78, 


80-82,90,94,99, 106-108, 


in. 


119, 120, 126, 12S, 134- 


136. 


138, 141, 142, 149, 150, 


153 


161, 164, 165, 177-180, 


18 J 


189, 198, 199, 202-204, 


210 


212, 214, 215, 224. 225, 


23] 


236, 23S, 242, 244, 246 




Kronion, 19 




Kronides, 19 




Zygia, see Hera 





